NCTA Places 'Washington Post' Ad Committing to Open Internet

NCTA: The Internet & Television Association took out a full-page ad in the Washington Post May 17 to commit to an open internet.

That came as the FCC prepares to vote May 18 on chairman Ajit Pai's controversial proposal to reverse the Title II common carrier designation of ISPs and rethink the 2015 Open Internet order rules against blocking, throttling and paid prioritization.

In the ad, the signatories, comprising 21 ISP members of NCTA and the American Cable Association, said by open internet they meant they "do not block, throttle or otherwise impair your online activity" and said they stood by that commitment.

"As providers of broadband internet service in many communities across America, we've always been committed to an open internet that gives you the freedom to be in charge of your online experience. And that will not change," the ad pledged.

One suggestion for enforcing such pledges after reclassification would be for the Federal Trade Commission to enforce such a voluntary ISP pledge of openness.

Signing on to the ad were Altice, Armstrong, Boycom, Buckeye, Cable ONE, Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox, Eagle, GCI, MCTV, Mediacom, MetroCast, Midco, RCN, Grande, Service Electric Cablevision, Shentel, Sjoberg's TDS, Vast Broadband and Vyve Broadband.

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.