Tom Wheeler, head of the US Federal Communication Commission. (REUTERS/JASON REED)
In an announcement ending weeks of speculation, Federal Communications Commission officials today said that federal regulators will introduce and vote on new proposed net neutrality rules in February.
President Obama's top telecom regulator, Tom Wheeler, told fellow FCC commissioners before the Christmas holiday that he intends to circulate a draft proposal internally next month with an eye toward approving the measure weeks later, said one official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the agency's deliberations are ongoing. The rules are meant to keep broadband providers such as Verizon and Comcast from speeding up or slowing down some Web sites compared to others.
FCC spokeswoman Kim Hart declined to comment on Wheeler's communications with his colleagues, but confirmed the February timetable, which ends weeks of speculation as to when the FCC would make its next move.
