Net Neutrality: Looking Like February, March for FCC Rules

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The FCC circulated its agenda for the Dec. 11 meeting and there is no vote on a new Open Internet order on the list.

That is not a big surprise. Gigi Sohn, the top aide to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, had signaled December was unlikely and FCC staffers have reportedly said they need more time to vet the legal implications of various proposals, particularly involving Title II reclassification. But according to sources inside and outside the FCC, January is probably equally a stretch, with most looking at March as the most likely month for a vote on the new rules.

Also not on the agenda is a vote on the Media Bureau proposal to reclassify some over-the-top video providers as MVPD's, at least to the degree that they would have program access rights to vertically integrated cable programming and to negotiate for TV station signal carriage.

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John Eggerton
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.