The Federal Communications Commission moved Tuesday to begin repealing regulations established during the Obama administration that seek to ensure "net neutrality." It's a hot-button issue that has long divided two of Oregon's most powerful politicians.

Net neutrality describes open access to the internet, requiring service providers to offer free and equal access to online material on their networks.

Tuesday's action could enable big internet carriers such as Comcast or CenturyLink to charge extra for online services such as Netflix, which in turn might pass those costs to viewers.

Oregon Rep. Greg Walden, R-Hood River, chairs the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, which has oversight authority for online communication. He hailed Thursday's action, declaring that it shows the FCC "understands the importance of making sure the internet continues to flourish under a light-touch regulatory regime," in a joint statement Tuesday with a Republican colleague, Communications and Technology Subcommittee chairwoman Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee.

Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden decried Tuesday's ruling as a giveaway to big telecom companies.

"Consumers, rural Americans, small businesses and pretty much everyone except Big Cable executives will lose out thanks to this terrible proposal," Wyden said in his own statement. The senator has long been among the most vocal advocates of net neutrality and led a campaign last summer to pressure the FCC to retain the open-access rules for the internet.

Under a Republican administration, however, Tuesday's announcement was a foregone conclusion. The FCC is set to formalize it at a meeting on Dec. 14.

The fight over net neutrality dates to the 1990s, and an unsuccessful drive by the city of Portland to require internet service providers to open their local networks to competitors. The courts blocked Portland's initiative, setting the state for a larger administrative and legislative debate over internet regulation.

Portland has largely retreated from the front lines of the open internet fight, but Mayor Ted Wheeler weighed in Tuesday on Twitter, addressing FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.

There's relatively little competition among internet service providers because it costs hundreds of millions of dollars to build a local network. Few American households have more than two options for high-speed service, and in an unregulated market, that gives the internet companies enormous power over pricing and service.

Opponents of net neutrality argue that light regulation helped enable the internet and facilitate the development of new services.

-- Mike Rogoway; twitter: @rogoway; 503-294-7699