Dear Johnnie: Can you find out how NextLight stands on net neutrality and what these changes mean to the end user? — Jim

Dear Jim: NextLight’s stance on net neutrality is that even if the Federal Communications Commission ends net neutrality, NextLight won’t.

“NextLight is a community-owned network and our customers come first,” spokesman Scott Rochat said in an email reply. “Regardless of what the FCC decides, we will continue to practice ‘net neutrality’ toward those customers, providing the same excellent service they’ve come to expect, without shuttling users and services into ‘fast lanes’ and ‘slow lanes.'”

That’s even if other providers change their practices, Rochat said.

For those of you who don’t know what net neutrality is, here’s a summary, which I took from a cnet.com post back in 2015, when President Barack Obama’s FCC instituted the regulations.

“The FCC’s net neutrality order boils down to three key rules:

“No blocking. Simply put: A broadband provider can’t block lawful content, applications, services or nonharmful devices.

“No throttling. The FCC created a separate rule that prohibits broadband providers from slowing down specific applications or services, a practice known as throttling. More to the point, the FCC said providers can’t single out internet traffic based on who sends it, where it’s going, what the content happens to be or whether that content competes with the provider’s business.

“No paid prioritization. A broadband provider cannot accept fees for favored treatment. In short, the rules prohibit internet fast lanes.”

Net neutrality is in the news now because FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced plans to repeal those rules. The FCC is scheduled to vote on this next Thursday.

As for what ending net neutrality means for internet users who aren’t NextLight customers — pretty much every user in America — I can’t say for sure, although there are plenty of people who do say.

I recommend reading multiple sources. That includes differing opinions from people who know how the internet works, and how internet service providers work. That person isn’t me.

Send questions to johnnie@times-call.com