US Congress Should Not Fund Internet Regulation - FCC Commissioner

The US Congress should not appropriate funds that would enable the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate the Internet, FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai said in a testimony to the US House Appropriations Committee.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Pai noted regulation of the Internet has wasted millions of dollars and further expenditures should be expected each year to enforce an “unprecedented governmental power-grab.”

On February 26, the FCC approved new net neutrality regulation, which reclassified broadband Internet as a telecommunications service. The regulation gives the FCC authority to regulate the Internet like a public utility, while requiring companies to provide Internet services to everyone at uniform rates.

“Congress should forbid the Commission from using any appropriated funds to implement or enforce the plan the FCC just adopted to regulate the Internet,” Pai said on Wednesday.

“Not only is this plan bad policy; absent outside intervention, the Commission will expend substantial resources implementing and enforcing regulations that are wasteful, unnecessary, and affirmatively detrimental to the American public,” he added.

The FCC — which pays for itself and contributes money to the US Treasury through fees and licensing — is asking for $413 billion for fiscal year 2016, up 17 percent from last year.

The budget increase is largely a reflection of the need to upgrade IT equipment, as well as move the FCC’s location once its lease is up in 2017, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a testimony on Tuesday.