business

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission renewed his support for "net neutrality" during a broadband forum Tuesday at the University of Minnesota.

Julius Genachowski, with the support of several Internet advocacy groups, has backed net neutrality as a way to prevent the telephone and cable TV firms, who are big Internet service providers, from favoring some Internet content or services over others.

"Users, not Internet service providers, need to decide what services get on the Internet," Genachowski told the Broadband Summit at the U's Carlson School of Management. "The Internet's open architecture encouraged investment, innovation and access to information and ideas. That's very important, and we should continue that."

But after the meeting, Genachowski declined to answer reporters' questions about potential setbacks for "net neutrality" because of opposition from Google and telephone company Verizon earlier this month, or the FCC's April defeat in a lawsuit filed by cable company Comcast.

Google and Verizon challenged Genachowski's net neutrality plan with a proposal that called for enforcing net neutrality on today's wired Internet, but not for today's wireless Internet service and or any future "differentiated online services."

Some believe that, under such a plan, the Internet could become a much different place.

"On mobile phones or on special access lanes, carriers like Verizon and AT&T could charge content companies a toll for faster access to customers or, some analysts worry, block certain services from reaching customers altogether," the New York Times reported.

Expanding broadband

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who chaired Tuesday's broadband forum as a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees telecommunications, said she was concerned that the Google and Verizon proposal sought to exclude wireless Internet service and would not allow the FCC to make future broadband rules.

In the court case, Comcast sued and won after the FCC said Comcast could not limit a customer's Internet access speed to a file-sharing service. A federal appeals court held that the FCC did not have the authority to issue such an order.

Genachowski also used his Minnesota appearance to advocate dramatically expanding broadband availability across the country, particularly in rural areas.

"Studies show that broadband spurs economic growth and creates jobs," Genachowski said. "It helps freedom of expression, participation in government services, health care, education, public safety and small business."

Minnesota has already received $140 million in federal stimulus funds for broadband, and may receive more, said Rick King, chief technology officer of Thomson Reuters in Eagan and chairman of the Minnesota Ultra High-Speed Broadband Task Force.

The $7.2 billion in broadband spending from the federal stimulus package was only a beginning, said Genachowski, who proposed to help pay for broadband expansion partly by diverting some telephone taxes that subsidize rural telephone service to Internet projects.

He warned that many other nations are already ahead of the U.S. in broadband use.

"Standing still on broadband is falling behind," he said.

Steve Alexander • 612-673-4553