FCC commissioner criticises agency’s net neutrality rules

The subject of net neutrality continued to court controversy at Mobile World Congress, with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) commissioner Michael O'Rielly hitting back at the US agency's chairman Tom Wheeler.

The FCC last week voted in favour of new net neutrality rules, meaning the internet will be regulated like a public utility. The agency aims to ban paid prioritisation, a practice whereby internet service providers can charge content producers a premium for giving users more reliable access.

On Tuesday, Mr Wheeler told Mobile World Congress 2015 that the internet can’t exist without a referee, adding that the US agency’s move “is no more regulating the internet than the first amendment regulates free speech”.

Mr O’Rielly said he didn’t think it was polite to come to a foreign country and air the US’s dirty laundry, but said that it would be a disservice if he didn’t talk about his views in light of Mr Wheeler’s keynote discussion.

"I do not believe that the regulator that I work for in the United States has properly understood its impact on the internet going forward," Mr O'Rielly said.

He said the FCC adopted the new rules last week against his wishes and vote, and that he believes the FCC’s decision is “monumentally flawed”.

Of the five FCC commissioners, Mr O’Rielly was one of two dissenting votes.

Mr O’Rielly said: “From a global market perspective, I worry that fellow regulators internationally will take the commissioner’s plan and adopt it, or worse, expand on it.”

New rules benefit Europe

Cisco chief executive John Chambers said the US net neutrality rules would help Europe take the lead when it comes to broadband.

“Sometimes, if you’re not careful, your regulatory goals can slow down your end goals,” Mr Chambers said.

European telecoms firms also weighed in on the debate at the event, with the chief executives of Nokia, Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom saying network operators needed to give special treatment to future services, such as connected cars, to ensure they functioned properly.

“We favour net neutrality, but we need to be allowed to have quality classes to enable new services in the Internet of Things,” Deutsche Telekom’s chief executive Tim Höttges said.

Nokia chief executive Rajeev Suri raised concerns about net neutrality, saying certain futuristic technologies will need to be prioritised.

“Driverless cars would require data to be served instantaneously. You cannot stop collisions from happening in the first place if the information that would prevent them is slowly making its way through the network.”