Federal regulators are considering whether the government should take greater control of the Internet and ask consumers to pay higher phone charges in order to provide all Americans with cheaper access to broadband Internet service.

The Federal Communications Commission Wednesday will lay out the case for expanding broadband Internet service, outlining current obstacles to making it widely available. The agency is considering whether to force Internet providers to share their networks with rivals and raise fees charged on consumer phone bills to pay for the broader access.

The proposals, which have sparked criticism from telecommunications and cable companies, represent a reversal from the Bush Administration, when regulators cut back on government control of Internet and telephone service.

The new commission, controlled by Democrats, is considering whether more government control is needed to ensure competition and more affordable Internet service.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has mounted a recent push to turn network neutrality “principles” into official regulations–and in doing so has stirred up the net neutrality hornet’s nest once again. The issues involved are thorny when you wade deep into the weeds, but consumer-level support for network neutrality seems largely driven by simple principle: AT&T (ATT) should not be “speeding up” websites with deep pockets, leaving everyone else to languish in the slow lane.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) Chairman Ivan Seidenberg on Wednesday had some harsh words for the Federal Communications Commission a day ahead of its planned vote on open Internet rules, adding to what has become a fever pitch of public debate over the proposal.

The speech was delivered on the same day that 30 business investors in technology companies sent a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski praising the rules.

In a speech before the SUPERCOMM 2009 conference in Chicago, Mr. Seidenberg said it would be a “mistake, pure and simple” for the FCC to impose a “burdensome regime” of regulation on the Internet, particularly if the rules apply only to Internet service providers like Verizon and not Web companies like Google Inc. (GOOG).

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Given the level of sturm and drang over the FCC’s proposed net-neutrality rules over the past week, it might be a little hard to believe the FCC hasn’t even released its proposal yet. The earliest anyone outside of the agency will see the FCC’s 50-ish page proposal is Thursday.

That hasn’t stopped intense lobbying on both sides, however, and today’s Net-Neutrality Letter of the Day belongs to the Sand Hill crowd, which is (not surprisingly) expressing its support for net-neutrality rules.

“As business investors in technology companies, we have first-hand experience with the importance of a guaranteeing an open market for new applications and services on the Internet,” wrote a group of 30 venture capitalists in a letter to (former VC, now FCC Chairman) Julius Genachowski.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

In the long fight over open Internet, or net neutrality, rules on Internet providers, we’re still essentially in pre-game.

You’d never know it from the flurry of lobbying across the country last week.

On Friday, it was House Democrats’ turn, when 72 members sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, asking him to soften a net-neutrality proposal the agency is expected to approve next week.

The lawmakers urged the FCC to “carefully consider the full range of potential consequences that government action may have on network investment,” while crafting the proposed rules. Phone and cable companies have been making similar points to the FCC, arguing the agency should avoid rules that will hobble their ability to manage their networks and stifle investment.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski is proposing that the agency apply tougher open-Internet rules broadly, raising concerns of cable and phone companies and some lawmakers that the government could try to control efforts to offer products such as digital cable or premium business services.

Mr. Genachowski’s proposal suggests everything in the Internet pipe is covered by rules prohibiting discrimination against any legal Internet traffic, known as net neutrality, unless the agency says otherwise, according to FCC officials familiar with a draft circulating in the agency.

Internet providers could seek exemptions for so-called premium managed services, like private corporate data networks or pay-TV services, which require guaranteed levels of data speed.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Ok, I didn’t say anything last month when Jerry–albeit with some caveats–cited that FCC stat about how 88 percent of zip codes have four or more broadband providers. But now I see my friend Peter Suderman relying on the same figure over at Reason. And friends don’t let friends use FCC broadband data.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Internet-service providers may be worried about the Federal Communications Commission’s net-neutrality guidelines, but the analysts who cover them?

Not so much. In recent days, more than one has referred to the proposed rules as “a solution in search of a problem.”

The FCC supports net neutrality and wants to ensure that broadband providers don’t block access to certain sites or impede competitors’ services while prioritizing their own. Julius Genachowski, the agency’s chairman, announced its net-neutrality principles Monday, and cable and wireless carriers, as well as some lawmakers, were quick to signal their discomfort.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Google Inc.’s (GOOG) new phone management service is destined to draw scrutiny from the Federal Communications Commission as the agency struggles to reconcile rotary-phone-era rules for iPhones and BlackBerrys, government and industry officials said.

Google is letting consumers test its Google Voice service, which allows people to link all of their phones to a common number and manage calls and messages through a single Web site. The service can also be used to send and receive phone calls and text messages.

The FCC’s first look at Google Voice came earlier this year, when the agency began probing into why Apple Inc. (AAPL) rejected the application for its iPhone.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Here’s a question the FCC neglected to ask Apple (AAPL) in its inquiry into why the company rejected–or as Apple prefers, declined to approve–Google (GOOG) Voice:

Why has a free app that does essentially the same thing–and would seem to raise the same red flags for Apple–been sitting on the App Store for nearly 10 months?

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Late last week, a day before the Federal Communications Commission started to investigate the Google (GOOG) Voice App fiasco, I spoke with the new FCC chairman, Julius Genachowski. He managed to carve out a few minutes from what has been a very busy first month on the job.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

The junior Senator from Minnesota, Al Franken, asked a decidedly unfunny question Wednesday afternoon when it was his turn to quiz Supreme Court nominee Sonya Sotomayor.

Franken turned to the contentious issue of net neutrality, or rules that would require cable and phone companies to treat legal Internet traffic equally and would prevent the creation of a two-tiered system that would allow speedier deliver of premium services.

Public interest groups have pressed Congress to pass explicit rules requiring net neutrality since it’s not entirely clear the FCC has authority to prevent Internet providers from blocking or delaying some Internet traffic.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Interim Federal Communications Commission Chair Michael Copps was clearly feeling his oats on Tuesday at the government’s “kickoff” of its national broadband campaign. “The years of broadband drift and growing digital divides are coming to an end,” Copps told the gathering at the Department of Commerce’s main auditorium.

“Too few consumers and small businesses in this country have the high-speed broadband they need if they’re going to succeed,” he added, and so “today we say: ‘Enough.’ We mobilize and we begin to build.” Also attending this digital pep rally was Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and a small platoon of reps from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Read the rest of this post

Ars Technica reports: The news that President Obama has formally nominated Julius Genachowski to chair the Federal Communications Commission has been received with something slightly short of euphoria by a large portion of the broadcasting/telecommunications sector. Over the last eight hours Ars Technica has been deluged with statements of pure, unadulterated happiness about the pick (which everybody has known about for months). And they’re coming from all policy directions, too.

“Julius is an outstanding choice for FCC Chairman,” Gigi Sohn of Public Knowledge says. “Julius Genachowski is an excellent choice to chair the FCC,” Comcast’s Chairman and CEO Brian L. Roberts told us. “Julius Genachowski is an excellent choice to lead the FCC,” declared Free Press’s Josh Silver shortly after the announcement.

Read the rest of this post

The nation’s switch to all-digital broadcasts has been more than a decade in the making. The federal government has spent nearly $2 billion to help people prepare. Broadcasters spent another $1.2 billion to run warning ads and millions more to upgrade equipment. Until last week, the United States seemed ready to follow the half-dozen European countries that have made the switch.

But with two federal agencies in charge, no clear idea of how many people would be affected and constant partisan disagreements over money, the program foundered just before its longstanding Feb. 17 deadline. It has now been pushed back four months.

Read the rest of this post