Among other rules the regulatory agency will release on Thursday are greater powers over service providers and a ban on hotly contested internet ‘fast lanes’

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is planning tough new rules for regulating the internet that will treat high-speed internet as a public utility, like electricity or water.

Net neutrality battle pitches activists and FCC against Big Cable and GOP Read more

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the FCC’s long-awaited proposed new rules for internet regulation will be released to the agency’s five commissioners on Thursday.

In November, President Barack Obama called for the “strongest possible” rules to protect net neutrality – the concept that all traffic should be treated equally online. According to the Journal, the FCC has heeded his call.

Among other proposals, the FCC rules will: move to regulate broadband under Title II of the Communications Act, giving it greater powers over internet service providers; change the way both mobile and fixed broadband firms are regulated; and ban broadband providers from prioritising websites in exchange for payment or slowing traffic from other sites.

The move, while expected, will meet strong resistance from cable companies and Republicans, who argue that the internet has benefited from light regulation and that greater control will stifle innovation.

However, internet activists and top tech companies including Amazon, Google, Netflix, Mozilla and Reddit have called for the FCC to shore up net neutrality, arguing cable firms will create a tiered internet and kill off competition if they are allowed to prioritise some companies over others in return for payments.

John Oliver's cheeky net neutrality plea crashes FCC website Read more

The FCC was forced to go back to the rulebook in January, after a court victory by Verizon effectively undercut its ability to regulate internet service providers. Cable companies have since lobbied for light-touch regulation. Republicans are also drawing up a bill to address net neutrality that would ban fast lanes but defang the FCC.

Last May, the FCC chairman, Tom Wheeler, put forward rules that would have allowed fast lanes, known as “paid prioritisation”. The decision provoked a massive backlash online and the regulator was flooded with more than 4m comments from the public, the majority against his proposals.

The FCC has five commissioners, three Democrats and two Republicans. Wheeler’s proposals will be voted on at the agency’s next meeting, on 27 February. The wording of his orders – as the rules are known – will now become the subject of intense lobbying.