FCC Chairman Wheeler to resign on January 20th

Title II reclassification became signature achievement

Current chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Tom Wheeler, has announced that he will be resigning at the end of the current presidential administration in January, during a tenure driven by increasing consumer protections in the satellite and cable industies while overseeing an escalating court battle over Title II broadband reclassification policy.

Though Wheeler’s role as chairman was often influenced by other political shapings in Washington DC, many of his positions stemmed in large part from precedents introduced under the former chairman’s leadership during Obama’s first term in office. Julius Genachowski, who headed the FCC from January 2009 to April 2013, was responsible for the creation of the country’s first national broadband plan, the reallocation of spectrum from OTA TV broadcasters, and a largely heated debate over Net Neutrality and web openness. In 2010, his commission passed the Open Internet Order, which led to regulations establishing the latter two principles.

The chairman then took office in November 2013, prior to working as a venture capitalist and lobbyist for the cable and wireless industry. The first major case against the Open Internet Order was decided by the courts two months later in January 2014, which determined that the order could only be applied to “common carriers,” preventing the FCC from regulating any broadband ISPs.

In April 2014, the FCC faced heavy criticism from net neutrality advocates for considering rules which would make it easier for wealthy companies to pay ISPs for faster access “lanes” to delivering their content. This became known as “paid prioritization.” The rules, which were eventually passed by 3–2 vote the following month, were opposed by at least two-thirds of Americans in polls published a few months later and again in 2015.

“Why should everyone subsidize fans of `House of Cards?’” asked Michael Powell of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA), a lobbying arm of the cable industry, referring to the popular Netflix series.

Source: University of Delaware (December 2015)

Wheeler reiterated later in January 2015 that the FCC would propose rules that say “no blocking, no throttling, no paid prioritization” and would accomplish this by reclassifying the ISPs as a Title II “common carriers,” according to the Communications Act of 1934. And the following month in February 2015 it ruled in another 3–2 vote to change the Internet from being an information service back to a telecom service, which prevents any ability for paid prioritization.

Of course, the broadband industry attempted to appeal the decision later but lost its lawsuit to overturn Title II reclassification in June 2016, making the decision Wheeler’s signature move during his tenure as chairman. His official statement of resignation following three years of work at the agency can be found here.