Ex-FCC Commissioner: Internet Users Will Pay More

A federal agency's plan to classify the Internet as a public utility, and regulate service providers as if they were gas and electricity companies, guarantees bigger monthly bills for everyone who pays for online access, economist and former FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth told Newsmax TV on Friday.

"The reality will be higher prices to consumers and years of litigation," Furchtgott-Roth told "MidPoint" host Ed Berliner. "That's the inevitable outcome."

The "utility" designation for Internet providers will preserve so-called "net neutrality" by preventing them from selectively speeding up or slowing down customers' Web traffic, or charging different fees for different speeds, U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced on Wednesday

The announcement follows President Barack Obama's call in November for "the strongest possible rules to protect net neutrality."

"It's a mess," said Furchtgott-Roth, a former chief economist for the House Commerce Committee. "This is an ill-advised regulatory step by the federal government."

Under the existing system, most people can choose among Internet providers, he said.

"The vast majority of Americans — well over 90 percent of Americans — have access to two or three land-based broadband providers," said Furchtgott-Roth. "So it's a very intensely competitive market. and most of these companies aren't making very much money selling you broadband services."

"The efforts of the FCC in the coming weeks will make sure that the consumers won't get another choice because the broadband providers are going to have no incentive left to invest in new network equipment," he said.

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