“The time has come for the F.C.C. to recognize that broadband service is of the same importance and must carry the same obligations as so many of the other vital services do,” Mr. Obama said.

Image President Obama has urged Tom Wheeler, right, chairman of the F.C.C., to reclassify broadband Internet service to treat it more like a utility. Credit... Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press

But critics of the proposal say regulating Internet service like a utility, without subjecting it to the same aggressive oversight of industries like electricity or water, will be a tough balancing act for the commission.

“Forbearance is a fig leaf here, especially when it comes to big issues like rate regulation,” said Michael Mandel, chief economic strategist at the Progressive Policy Institute, which dislikes the prospect of treating broadband like a utility. “The F.C.C. can forbear easily from day-to-day rate decisions. But I don’t see how they can stay out of that when there are big innovative leaps.”

Mr. Mandel pointed to the introduction of the iPhone as an example. When that device was released, AT&T needed to develop a new type of data service package to charge consumers who wanted to use the iPhone’s ability to connect to the Internet.

Any common carrier, as AT&T and other wireless providers would be considered under Mr. Obama’s plan, would need the F.C.C. to first approve such a new type of charge. Even if the commission said it did not want to rule on how much AT&T could charge, a consumer could petition the agency, arguing that its duty as a regulator is to determine how those data charges should be structured.

But supporters of Mr. Obama’s plan say that the rhetoric about classifying broadband as a utility, putting it under the regulations of Title II of the Communications Act, has been overblown.

“I think it’s a red herring to assume that you have to import all of the regulations that exist for the telephone and apply them to the Internet,” said Corynne McSherry, intellectual property director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties advocacy group. “No one is really pushing for that, and no one thinks that should happen.”