Net Neutrality May Hit Infrastructure Investment, Simington Says

Restoring Obama-era net neutrality rules could curb broadband infrastructure investment, Republican FCC commissioner Nathan Simington warned in a speech Tuesday.

The rules, which reclassified broadband internet as a utility-style service under Title II of the Communications Act, may “chill infrastructure construction, maintenance and modernization,” Nathan Simington said in remarks to the Free State Foundation.

The Democratic-controlled FCC is seen as likely to reclassify broadband as a Title II service, which would allow it to reinstate the rules requiring broadband providers to treat almost all internet traffic that flows on their networks equally. In 2017, the then-GOP led FCC repealed the ...