WASHINGTON (WCMH) — President Trump’s new head of the Federal Communications Commission says net neutrality rules are a “mistake.”
“It has become evident that the FCC made a mistake,” Ajit Pai said at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. “Our new approach injected tremendous uncertainty into the broadband market. And uncertainty is the enemy of growth.”
The FCC passed net neutrality rules in 2015 to essentially prevent internet providers from playing favorites. It prohibits companies like Comcast and AT&T from deliberately speeding up or slowing down traffic from specific websites and apps.
AT&T was under investigation for violating those net neutrality rules when it began letting customers stream content from DirecTV without counting toward data plans. The FCC argued at the time it effectively “makes it harder for third-party video services to compete.”
Under the new administration, that investigation has been closed, and the new FCC chairman wants to roll back those rules, CNN reports.
“The truth is that consumers like getting something for free,” Pai argues.
Critics warn without net neutrality rules, companies like Netflix would likely have to pay more to deliver their content to you, and that would lead to high prices for consumers.
Former FCC chairman Tom Wheeler, who oversaw the approval of net neutrality rules, criticized the current FCC’s approach in a phone interview with CNNTech.
“Conservatives used to be against letting big companies determine who gets on the broadcast airwaves, but now they are for allowing big companies to determine who gets on the Internet [and] on what terms,” Wheeler said. “It seems to me the lobbyists are winning out over core principles here.”
Pai has been taking more corporate-friendly stances on many issues since President Donald Trump appointed him FCC chairman.