The cable industry which was largely deregulated in 1996 and has fought subsequent attempts by the commission to impose new regulations.
Two top Democratic legislators (Senator John D. Rockefeller and Representative Henry A. Waxman - both Chairmen of Commerce Committees) said in May that they would begin a process to modernize telecommunications laws that were last overhauled in 1996 but barely mention the Internet.
The issue came into focus in April when a federal appeals court ruled that the F.C.C. had overstepped its authority in applying a portion of the Communications Act to an Internet service provider..(NY TIMES May 25, 2010 - Edward Wyatt)
In 2002, the FCC deregulated Internet lines to encourage more investment.
The FCC announced a plan to reclassify broadband internet service, which is now lightly regulated as an information service. Under the change, it would be classified as a telecommunications service similar to basic telephone service and would therefore come under more scrutiny by the agency.
Any overhaul is likely to take some time. It took more than five years to produce the 1996 Telecommunications Act which was the first major overhaul of telecommunications law since the original act of 1934.
Early this month the Wall Street Journal indicated that the FCC chairman, Julius Genachowski, was still considering a proposal to re-regulate broadband access under more stringent rules designed for phone services, giving them more sway over how the internet providers run their networks.
Phone and cable companies say that would damp new investments and create new uncertainty as legal challenges worked through the courts.
One issue on which the FCC is now asking for comment involves whether net neutrality rules should apply to wireless networks. Phone companies don’t want the rules to apply while high-tech companies and consumer advocates do.
The other issue involves whether broadband providers can offer paid priority internet delivery for what FCC calls "specialized services" (Faster delivery of their traffic to consumers)
[Wall Street Journal - Sept 1, 2010 Amy Schatz]
Cellular internet access is becoming an increasingly important profit center for telecommunications companies as more consumers adopt mobile Web tools such as smartphones like the iPhone and phones based on Google’s Android software.
Because the phone and cable industries are among the most heavily regulated, they tend to spend more on political contributions and lobbying than others. In 2009, the telecommunications industry spent a combined $43 million on lobbying