There are some people who think Internet service should be regulated as a public utility, like the electric grid, water supply, or phone network.

Michael Powell, who was chairman of the Federal Communications Commission from 2001 to 2005 and is now CEO of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA), is not one of them.

As leader of the FCC, Powell decided in 2002 that Internet access would be treated as an "information service" rather than telecommunications, exempting it from common carrier regulations that apply to the traditional phone network.

That decision indirectly led to the recent failure of the FCC to enforce network neutrality laws that prevent broadband providers from discriminating against Internet traffic.

Today's FCC—led by former cable and wireless lobbyist Tom Wheeler—could reverse Powell's decision but has thus far chosen not to. For that, Powell is thankful.

"Because the Internet is not regulated as a public utility, it grows and thrives, watered by private capital and a light regulatory touch," Powell said today in a speech at the Cable Show industry conference. (Full text here.) "It does not depend on the political process for its growth, or the extended droughts of public funding. This is why broadband is the fastest deploying technology in world history, reaching nearly every citizen in our expansive country."

Because utility-style regulation can't be placed on Internet service providers under their "information service" classification, a federal appeals court this year threw out the FCC's rules against blocking or discriminating against traffic. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is trying to comply with the court ruling by proposing no-blocking rules that allow ISPs to charge Web services for faster access to consumers. Net neutrality advocates say this isn't net neutrality at all, since it would create a two-tier Internet, with only deep-pocketed companies able to buy preferred access to Internet users.

Internet customers who are worried about net neutrality or frustrated with the paucity of choice from broadband providers might wish that Internet service was regulated as a public utility. But Powell says the country's other utilities show why strict regulation would fail.

Roads and bridges are in poor condition, with the "Federal Highway Administration estimat[ing] that $170 billion is needed annually just to fix our congested and crumbling roads," Powell said. "Most of America’s drinking water infrastructure is nearing the end of its useful life. There are an estimated 240,000 water main breaks per year, and reports say the water system needs $1 trillion in improvement."

The electric system likewise "needs a $768 billion shot in the arm by 2020 to keep it from failing, and the number of massive blackouts has increased. In 2007, there were 76 major blackouts. In 2011, there were 307. Can you imagine if the Internet blacked out 300 times a year?"

The US Internet service market has been boosted by $1.3 trillion invested by ISPs since 1996, Powell said.

Powell acknowledged that it's the "Internet’s essential nature" that fuels debate over whether it should be "regulated as a public utility, following the example of the interstate highway system, the electric grid and drinking water. The intuitive appeal of this argument is understandable, but the potholes visible through your windshield, the shiver you feel in a cold house after a snowstorm knocks out the power, and the water main breaks along your commute should restrain one from embracing the illusory virtues of public utility regulation."

"The contrast is striking when you compare the crisis in public utility infrastructure with the dynamism and stable investment in broadband Internet services," he said.

Prominent people who disagree with Powell include former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, who has called on the current FCC to reclassify broadband providers as common carriers.

The "information service" classification was created under President Clinton in the 1996 Telecommunications Act, leaving it up to the FCC to decide whether broadband would get light-touch information service regulation or stronger common carrier rules.

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) today criticized Wheeler for proposing to allow pay-for-play payments to Internet service providers. "This proposal would create an online ‘fast lane’ for the highest bidder—shutting out small businesses and increasing costs for consumers," Franken said in a letter sent to Wheeler. "Your proposal would grant Verizon, Comcast, and other ISPs the power to pick winners and losers on the Internet, which violates core net neutrality principles that you have publicly supported in the past."

Susan Crawford, a law professor and former tech policy advisor to President Obama, wrote in a New York Times opinion piece this week that the FCC is "bowing before an onslaught of corporate lobbying, [choosing] short-term political expediency over the long-term interest of the country."

Crawford sees hope in municipal fiber networks, although ISP lobbyists have helped push through limits on public broadband in 20 states.

"As a first step, Americans need to focus their efforts on getting these laws taken off the books," Crawford wrote. "Mere legislative change won’t be enough, however. We need to elect leaders on the basis of their commitment to changing America’s stagnant communications infrastructure."