The nation’s largest cable and telecom industry trade groups on Friday asked a federal court for a rare “en banc” review of last month’s decision upholding U.S. rules protecting net neutrality, the principle that all content on the internet should be equally accessible to consumers.
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USTelecom was the primary petitioner in the landmark court case and the group’s president, Walter McCormick, said in a Friday statement that the group filed the en banc review request “to help ensure that the FCC does not give itself authority – which Congress has not granted – to impose heavy-handed regulation on internet access”.
Matt Wood, policy director at DC-based public interest group Free Press, blasted the broadband industry’s latest attempt to overturn the FCC’s rules.
Telephone, cable, and wireless internet lobbies asked for the rehearing based on notion that the court’s decision to uphold the rules in June was inconsistent with its previous rulings on two prior net neutrality challenges the industry won.
The broadband providers are now asking for a review by the full court, which currently has 11 active judges.
“It comes as no surprise that the big dogs have challenged the three-judge panel’s decision”, said FCC chairman Tom Wheeler.
The CTIA, which represents wireless carriers, argues in separate papers that Congress prohibited the FCC from treating mobile broadband as a common carrier service.
Net neutrality is a major issue for broadband providers such as Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N), Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) and AT&T (T.N), which fear the rules may make it harder to manage internet traffic and also make investment in additional capacity less likely.
Broadband providers raised a host of arguments in their initial challenge to the rules, including that the FCC lacked authority to reclassify broadband service as a utility. Industry groups will have 90 days to appeal to the Supreme Court if the appeals court declines to review the case or if it affirms the three-judge panel’s ruling.
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The FCC rules prohibited broadband providers from giving or selling access to speedy internet – essentially a “fast lane” on the web’s information superhighway – to certain internet services over others.
