Chairman Wheeler: FCC Does Not Answer To Obama

Chairman Wheeler

Hours after President Obama called Monday for the FCC to pass tougher regulations on high-speed Internet providers, the agency’s Democratic chairman, Tom Wheeler, told a group of business executives that he was moving in a different direction.

Huddled in an FCC conference room Monday with officials from major Web companies, including Google, Yahoo and Etsy, Wheeler said he has preferred a more nuanced solution, according to The Washington Post.   That approach would deliver some of what Obama wants but also would address the concerns of the companies that provide Internet access to millions of Americans, such as Comcast, Time Warner Cable and AT&T.

“What you want is what everyone wants: an open Internet that doesn’t affect your business,” a visibly frustrated Wheeler said at the meeting, according to four people who attended. “What I’ve got to figure out is how to split the baby.”

Wheeler, a former lobbyist for the cable and telecommunications industry, has floated proposals that aim to limit the ability of service providers to charge Web companies, such as Netflix or Google, to reach their customers. But critics have argued that his approach would give the providers too much leeway to favor some services over others.

A growing source of frustration for White House and congressional Democrats is that they have three of their own on the five-member commission at the FCC, a majority that should give them the power to push through a policy of their liking. But if Wheeler charts a different course, he could bring the other members along with him.

And, as Wheeler reminded participants at his meeting with Web companies Monday, the FCC does not answer to the Obama administration.

“I am an independent agency,” Wheeler told them repeatedly, according to several officials.

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