Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler spoke to cable companies at their annual conference today, telling them it's time to move beyond the net neutrality debate and start boosting competition.

In a speech at the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) conference in Chicago, Wheeler noted that cable companies claim to support an "open Internet" but object to how the FCC implemented its new net neutrality rules, which take effect next month. The NCTA and other broadband provider groups have sued the FCC, though Wheeler has said he doesn't expect them to win.

"On June 12 there will be in effect strong protections to shield against harm to an Open Internet. We cannot go backwards," Wheeler said. The rules—including an "Internet Conduct Standard" that the providers criticize as being too vague—are necessary to ensure that cable companies don't abuse their power as Internet providers, he said today.

"Often people say to me, 'I know you won't do anything crazy, but what about those who follow you?' My response is, I take you at your word to protect an open Internet, but what about those that follow you?'" Wheeler said.

When discussing the shift in business priorities from TV to broadband, Wheeler said cable companies should look toward the future, just as Comcast did when the FCC prevented it from buying Time Warner Cable. "The decision of Comcast and Time Warner Cable to abandon their proposed merger is relevant here," Wheeler said. "Brian Roberts' leadership that it's 'time to move on' was not only a thoughtful response, but also directionally correct. It is time to look forward, not backward."

Part of looking forward, in Wheeler's opinion, is boosting competition. With some exceptions, cable companies have generally not competed against each other, letting a single company dominate each region instead of "overbuilding" in each other's territory.

"You don't have a lot of competition, especially at the higher speeds that are increasingly important to the consumer of online video," Wheeler said. This means there isn't the kind of "intense and constant pressure to continue to improve" as there was in the days when DSL posed a serious threat to cable, he said.

"More competition would be better," Wheeler said. "That is why we granted the preemption petitions filed by two communities that wished to expand their gigabit networks into surrounding areas, including where people had no broadband at all. I recognize the challenges of overbuilding, and to encourage it is not to assume its immediate appearance. And while I know it is an anathema to your geographically defined way of looking at the industry, I believe—as some have already demonstrated—that it can also be an opportunity."

Wheeler acknowledged that the "only rationale" for overbuilding "is to generate economic return," but he thinks the money is there.

"That is why the Open Internet order was constructed so as to put broadband providers in a situation where they could profit from the value of their investments free from any limiting rate regulation," Wheeler said. "History proves that absent competition, a predominant position in the market such as yours creates economic incentives to use that market power to protect your traditional business in a way that is ultimately harmful to consumers... Your challenge will be to overcome the temptation to use your predominant position in broadband to protect your traditional cable business. The Internet will disrupt your existing business model. It does that to everyone."

The FCC chairman quoted his own previous speech in front of the cable conference last year, when he said, "when it comes to broadband, the cable industry has important technical advantages, a leading market position, and very limited regulation.” That point "remain[s] important," he said.

Wheeler "received a frosty reception at the gathering," The Los Angeles Times reported.

"The cable chiefs said they face plenty of competition," the newspaper reported. "Charter Communications Chief Executive Thomas Rutledge, whose company wants to buy Time Warner Cable, told the group: 'We, in the US, suffer from Stockholm Syndrome, and we have to be careful about what we think of our captors,' meaning the FCC."

The NCTA changed its conference's name from The Cable Show to The Internet & Television Expo this year to reflect its changing priorities.

"I hate the name," NCTA CEO Michael Powell said, referring to "cable," according to a Broadcasting & Cable article yesterday. "I do think it has a proud history, but I think it has to be retired in some way because I think your past can be a part of your glory, but it also can be a weight around your ankle. And it also doesn't fairly capture what [NCTA members] do."

Powell is a former chairman of the FCC, just as Wheeler is a former CEO of the NCTA.