Verizon: We Oppose Net Neutrality Rules On Wireless

Verizon senior VP, public policy, Craig Silliman took to the blogosphere to make two things clear: The company supports an open Internet and the company does not support extending wired network neutrality rules to wireless broadband.

"[T]his debate has never been about an open Internet," he said. "[E]veryone supports that. It has been about how heavily broadband should be regulated. Supporting an open Internet and supporting the imposition on wireless networks of a regulatory regime first written for the rotary phone are two very different things. Our comments in the 'Open Internet' proceeding have been consistent..."

The FCC has not proposed extending the rules to wireless, also recognizing the difference in network management challenges, but it has been under increasing pressure from net neutrality activists to do so, and FCC chairman Tom Wheeler has signaled the issue remains up for discussion.

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John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.