A goal realized: Network lobbyists’ sweeping capture of their regulator

[Commentary] When the Federal Communications Commission voted December 14 to repeal the rules protecting a fast, fair, and open internet, the lobbyists for the internet service providers realized their long-envisioned strategy to gut the authority of the agency that since 1934 has been charged with overseeing the activities of the nation’s essential networks. The companies’ goal: to move regulatory jurisdiction from the Federal Communications Commission to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Strategically, it is a brilliant sleight of hand since the FTC has no rulemaking authority and no telecommunications expertise, yet the companies and the policymakers who support them can trot out the line that the FTC will protect consumers. By a party-line vote, the Trump FCC executed the network companies’ playbook to perfection.

The 2013 network lobbyists’ playbook has just clinch the regulatory Super Bowl. Both in Congress and the FCC, the major internet companies have delivered on their 2013 plan to shift regulatory responsibility to less powerful agencies. The result may be year-end bonuses for the company lobbyists, but it’s a lump of coal for consumers.

[Tom Wheeler served as the 31st Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission from 2013 to 2017.]