Top US regulator likely to announce plan to exert greatest power over cable industry in victory for supporters of free and open internet

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) looks set to pass strict new rules to govern broadband internet in the US on Thursday, following one of the most intense – and bizarre – lobbying battles Washington has ever seen.

The FCC’s five commissioners will meet on Thursday morning to approve a plan to regulate broadband like a public utility, giving the regulator the greatest power over the cable industry it has had since the internet went mainstream.

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President Obama gave his support to the rules last year, following an online campaign that pitched internet activists and companies including Netflix and Reddit, I Can Has Cheezburger? – weblog home of the Lolcats meme – and online craft market Etsy against Republican leaders and the cable and telecom lobbies.

Activists and tech companies are keen to protect the principle of net neutrality – the idea that all information and services should have equal access to the internet.

Protesters gathered outside the FCC’s Washington headquarters before the meeting, in celebration of their success in lobbying for a dramatic U-turn in regulation.

“We need to send another signal that you can’t mess with the internet,” said Evan Greer, campaign manager for net advocates Fight for the Future. Open Media, another of the protest groups, parked a Jumbotron giant screen close to the FCC’s offices, broadcasting messages from supporters of the new rules.

At the meeting the commission’s two Democrat members, Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel, are expected to approve the plan put forward by the Democratic chairman, Tom Wheeler, with some objections. They will overrule the two Republican commissioners who have already lambasted the plan and will hold their own press conference later in the day.

One of the Republican commissioners, Ajit Pai, has called the plan “a solution that won’t work to a problem that doesn’t exist”. He is backed by senior Republicans and most of the cable and telecoms industry, who are working on plans to overturn the decision even before the details are published.

Wheeler has made clear he plans to regulate broadband under Title II of the communications act – the strongest legal authority the regulator has. Obama called on the independent regulator to implement Title II last year, leading to charges that he unduly influenced Wheeler’s decision that are now being investigated in Congress.

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The act gives the FCC the power to ban so-called paid prioritisation – or fast lanes – for willing content providers. It would also would ban broadband providers from slowing traffic for competitive reasons. The regulator would also have the authority to challenge unforeseen barriers broadband providers might create as the internet develops.

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The regulator will vote on two proposals. The first, which has been eclipsed by the net neutrality debate, will allow municipal broadband companies to compete more freely with established cable firms.

Municipal broadband companies in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Wilson, North Carolina, are seeking to overturn bans on their expansion plans which have been lobbied for by private cable and telecom rivals. Twenty states currently have limits or bans on local governments building, owning or partnering with others to give local businesses and residents a choice in high-speed internet access. That vote too is expected to fall along party lines, potentially opening many US cities to wider competition.

Christopher Mitchell, director of community broadband networks at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance said the vote could set “an historic precedent” that could “profoundly impact the lives of three-quarters of Americans who are without broadband or a choice in their service because of big cable underinvestment in their towns.”

The FCC was forced to rewrite its broadband rules after Verizon successfully challenged its authority to stop it creating fast lanes or to more broadly regulate the industry under its last set of regulations, the Open Internet Order of 2010. Legal challenges for the new rules are also inevitable.

Republican FCC commissioners Pai and Michael O’Rielly will hold a press conference after the meeting to detail their objections to the orders, which as yet have been seen by only a few dozen people. Their objections will be taken up by Republican politicians who are already working on plans to circumvent the orders.