Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler has delivered good news to Silicon Valley after expressing his support of the idea of Open Internet during a speech at the Computer History Museum.
The Open Internet order was released in 2010 by FCC which aims to ensure "net neutrality." The term implied that Internet service providers and governments must not charge users, contents, sites, apps, and communication differently. However, this is still an ongoing issue since Internet service providers have been blocking some apps and contents making it inaccessible to the users due to competition. Activists claim that the order wasn't followed by the broadband providers.
On Thursday, Wheeler discussed about three things in front of the Silicon Valley representatives: experimental approach of transitioning from copper to IP networks, deregulation of licensed and unlicensed spectrum, and the possibility of expanding Open Internet.
The 31st chairman of FCC spoke about spectrum and the commission's plans to open up more airwaves for both licensed and unlicensed uses, like Wi-Fi. However, he said that the triumph of those plans depends on the television broadcasters that currently have 600 MHz airwaves.
On the other hand, knowing that broadcasters still doubt his plans, he came up with a proposal - an incentive auction -- wherein broadcasters can dictate the amount of airwave they are willing to sell.
The chairman's desire to employ an unlicensed spectrum is due to the increasing dependency of the Silicon Valley on the use of wireless Internet connection and Bluetooth, GigaOM reported.
He also expressed desire to include 3.5 GHz spectrum, a kind of small cell band that could be used to cover large amounts of capacity into mobile networks in urban areas.
Wheeler also cited the new Sponsored Data plan by AT&T, which changes mobile data costs from the consumer to the content provider. He described it as the "right approach" in a paper released by FCC.
"This seems to me to be the right approach. It may well be that the kind of offering AT&T has announced enables increased competition and increased efficiency-both things that benefit consumers," Wheeler wrote.
While the government seems to disapprove the idea of Open Internet, Wheeler openly supports it. Despite of his uncertainty if his successor will agree with him, he expressed his willingness to make formal judgment on the issue in a case-by-case basis.
