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Even if the FCC goes forward with Title II classification, expect significant delays
June 14, 2025
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler has recentlymade news for his hintthat he would classify broadband providers under Title II. This classification would in effect give the FCC the actual power to punish providers if they tried putting forward corporate-friendly “fast lanes.”
Even if Wheeler announces his plan for Title II classification (and it passes the FCC vote later in February), consumers shouldn’t expect to see the classification take effect for likely several years.
Cable and wireless companies have all but guaranteed that they will sue the FCC to stop any Title II classification. To be fair, so have those who are in favor of Title II classification (assuming that the FCC voted to not impose Title II classification).
Several months ago, Verizon General Counsel Randal Milch admitted in a blog post that any FCC plan which doesn’t decrease already light net neutrality rules “fairly guarantees litigation.” This followed Verizon CFO Francis Shammo telling a crowd at the 42nd Annual Global Media and Communications confab in New York, that if the FCC went to Title II classification, there would be a “very litigious environment.”
AT&T’s SEVP of external and legislative affairs, Jim Cicconi, issued a statement claiming that “if the FCC puts such rules in place, we would expect toparticipate in a legal challengeto such action.”
The irony in this is that Verizon is the reason that the FCC is in the position that they are in today. Verizon previously sued and won to overturn the FCC’s 2010 Open Internet Order which gave the FCC extremely soft power over broadband providers. This forced the FCC to come up with new rules.
Verizon is now so desperate to stop the likely Title II classification that they are asking the FCC to use the 2010 rules that Verizon itself killed in court previously.
Congress is also trying to get involved in the Title II debate. Republican Congressional leadershave been workingto put together a new plan that would prevent broadband providers from giving priority for some websites over others while allowing providers to stay out of the Title II classification.
A number of Democratsalso are reintroducinga bill that would ban paid prioritization agreements between content providers like Netflix and ISPs like AT&T and Verizon. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) reintroduced The Online Competition and Consumer Choice Act.
As Tim Wu, who came up with the net neutrality term,said recently: “There will be blood.”
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