FCC Chairman Proposes Abandoning Obama-Era Net Neutrality Rules

Pai, a Republican, says change will unleash digital revolution
Move will hand victory to AT&T and Comcast over Silicon Valley

Bloomberg Intelligence’s Matthew Schettenhelm discusses the FCC’s proposal to end net neutrality rules.(Source: Bloomberg)

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By Todd Shields

November 21, 2017 at 4:30 PM UTC

Updated on

November 21, 2017 at 11:07 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on Tuesday proposed vacating Obama-era net neutrality rules, handing a victory to broadband providers such as AT&T Inc. and Comcast Corp. while critics warned of higher prices and a less-open internet.

Pai, a Republican, set a Dec. 14 vote on overturning rules adopted by the FCC in 2015, saying he wants to move away from “heavy-handed, utility-style regulations upon the internet” and return to a “light-touch, market-based framework.”