While the Federal Communications Commission was able to vote in the Title II reclassification for broadband providers, it wasn't clear what the side effects of such a change would be. Some believed it would decrease innovation in the cable industry, while others saw the reclassification as an opportunity for the government to add additional content regulations to the Internet. But one insider believes that the reclassification will significantly increase the prices of cable.
FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai recently appeared on Newsmax's "Steve Malzberg Show" to comment on the FCC vote. Pai was one of two Republican FCC commissioners, as well as an opponent of the FCC's reclassification vote. Pai believes that FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's claim that he did not receive a "secret order" from the president is at odds with claims made by the White House and the Democratic party.
"The president said ... on WhiteHouse.gov, this is my plan and I'm asking the FCC to implement it. On the day the FCC took the vote on Feb. 26, the Democratic National Committee put out a tweet saying, Hooray! The FCC has approved President Obama's plan," Pai said.
"Now, you cannot square those two statements from those two entities with the notion that the FCC was acting independently. The position I've taken is that this was a break from our traditional position as an independent agency."
Pai's comments come after Republicans accused Wheeler of giving in to the president's demands when the FCC is supposed to be an independent agency.
"They're going to be a number of different effects over the coming months and years," Pai said. "Most immediately, what is going to happen is that the FCC has now explicitly opened the door to an increase in the tax that is going to be placed on broadband.
"I would imagine in the next month or two we're going to see for the first time taxes placed on broadband bills. Your bill is going to go up. In the longer term, some of the more incidental effects are going to be a reduction to the amount of competition.
"Some of the smaller Internet service providers are going to find it more difficult to stay in business."
However, there are some who disagree. Sen. Ron Wyden (OR-D) believes that the claim that Title II will significantly increase taxes is "baloney".
The Republican Party is currently working on a bill to turn over the FCC's Title II vote. The bill currently has 31 Republican co-sponsors, and, if passed, would strip the FCC of all its new power.
