FCC Head Net Neutrality Remarks Spark ReactionFCC Head Net Neutrality Remarks Spark Reaction

It didn't take long for Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski's Internet neutrality roadmap to elicit pushback. Republican FCC commissioners and major mobile phone wireless carriers weighed in Tuesday with skepticism in the wake of Genachowski's speech Monday in support of the concept of 'net neutrality'.

As expected, the major fuss centers around wireless networks and Genachowski's suggestion that the FCC principles and consumer protections applying to wired networks be extended to wireless networks.

Calling Genachowski's still-unspecified proposal "monumental," Republican commissioners Meredith Baker and Robert McDowell, said in a joint statement that they are concerned that factual and legal conclusions "may have been drawn before the process has begun." In addition, they said that Genachowski's Monday speech outlining a framework for the net neutrality issue "does nothing to address the effect new rules may have on encouraging additional foreign government control of the Internet."

Genachowski, a Democrat, was immediately supported by the other Democratic Party commissioners, Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn, giving them a 3-2 majority over the Republican commissioners.

While the first round of suggestions and proposals for net neutrality are scheduled to be presented at October's open FCC meeting, a long period of debate, lobbying, and general wrangling isn't likely to be concluded with final rules being promulgated until the spring or later. Genachowski's comments appear to provide for a long and open-ended process designed to permit the discussion of a wide array of proposals to govern networks.

Major attention is likely to be focused on wireless networks, because they haven't generally been governed by established rules governing wired networks and also because wireless networks are becoming more robust and serving more consumers in more ways.

Among wireless carriers, AT&T issued the most direct challenge to the Genachowski outline, noting that the country's wireless landscape is already extremely competitive. "We would thus be very disappointed if (the FCC) has already drawn a conclusion to regulate wireless services despite the absence of any compelling evidence of problems or abuse that would warrant government intervention," AT&T said in a statement. AT&T also noted that some spectrum purchased in last year's 700 MHz bandwidth auction didn't contain any encumbrances, but the proposed net neutrality approach appears ready to reverse the auction specifics. The carrier said: "For the FCC to now place such requirements on that spectrum so soon after the auction creates the impression of a 'bait and switch', and could raise questions about the fairness and integrity of the auction process itself."

It went on to cite the "incredible bandwidth strains" that are facing U.S. wireless networks. AT&T is somewhat of a victim of its own success with its < a href=" http://www.information.com/news/personal_tech/iphone/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=216500884 ">exclusive arrangement to market Apple's iPhone; the iPhone has been so successful and its users download so much data that AT&T's network is often pressed to keep up.

Verizon, which has a robust CDMA network and is well on its way to deploying super-robust LTE network technology, was more muted in its response to Genachowski's outline. Even so, a Verizon Wireless executive was quoted as saying it feared new FCC rules could limit consumer choices and "affect content providers, application developers, device manufacturers and network builders."

Sprint Nextel appeared to endorse Genachowski's proposals, at least initially. In a statement, the third largest U.S. wireless carrier said: "We look forward to working with the Chairman and the rest of the Commissioners as they work to establish these new policies in a way that meets the expectations of consumers, recognizes the limits of wireless technology and preserves the obligations of carriers to operate networks in a reasonable and responsible manner."

Sprint noted that it is already deploying an open 4G network. It is also the majority owner of Clearwire, which is rolling out a nationwide WiMax network.

What's clear about the initial net neutrality skirmishing is that it's likely to be followed by a long and contentious period featuring multiple issues before final rules can be drawn.

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