Why We Filed for En Banc Review

En Banc Review

Today, NCTA joined the American Cable Association (ACA) in filing a Joint Petition for Rehearing En Bancwith the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit regarding the 2015 FCC order to reclassify broadband internet access service as a common carrier service under Title II of the Communications Act.

We don’t celebrate this petition, but we believe this action is necessary to correct unlawful action by the FCC.  We aren’t challenging the specific net neutrality protections – as we’ve explained repeatedly, we have long supported the net neutrality principles embodied in the FCC’s 2010 order that could be enforceable under the Commission’s traditional light touch approach to internet regulation.  Regrettably, the 2015 Order abruptly and unreasonably abandoned that long-established precedent, reverting to an outdated regulatory framework.  Quite simply, as regulators for decades have acknowledged and consistently determined, dynamic Internet networks do not resemble or deserve to be treated like archaic telephone systems.

Because the FCC Order was such a monumental departure from the FCC’s successful tenure of overseeing broadband internet networks that have seen tremendous investment, expansion and innovation, we seek rehearing of these critical issues.