Verizon hails defeat of ‘unnecessary’ FCC rules

Verizon on Tuesday hailed a federal court’s decision to strike down the Federal Communications Commission’s net-neutrality order.

Randal Milch, the company’s executive vice president of public policy, praised the court for tossing “unnecessary regulations” while stressing that the ruling “will not change consumers’ ability to access and use the Internet as they do now.”

Verizon will work “with the FCC and Congress to keep the Internet a hub of innovation without the need for unnecessary new regulations that seek to manage the explosive dynamism of the Internet,” Milch said.

On Tuesday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the FCC’s net-neutrality rules, saying that it overstepped its regulatory authority by treating Internet providers like telephone companies after classifying the two types of companies differently.

{mosads}The ruling is a victory for Verizon, which challenged the FCC’s rules in court.

Supporters of the rules say they’re necessary to keep Internet providers like Verizon and Comcast from blocking certain website and online services, especially bandwidth-intensive services like Netflix or YouTube. 

Verizon disagrees, and said the ruling “will allow more room for innovation, and consumers will have more choices to determine for themselves how they access and experience the Internet,” Milch said.

Milch said the court’s decision will not affect Verizon’s commitment “to the open Internet which provides consumers with competitive choices and unblocked access to lawful websites and content when, where and how they want.”