Source: FCC Title II Order Likely By End of Week

According to sources familiar with the FCC's progress on the network neutrality order, the final language could be realeased this week, with one source saying that could be as early as tomorrow (March 12).

Once that order is released, it goes to the Federal Register, and after it is published there--likely in a week or two--the 60-day countdown begins until the rules take effect.

While the FCC already voted to approve the order Feb. 26, and the FCC outlined the order before the vote and explained its highpoints during the public meeting, Republican commissioners have signaled the devil, at least for opponents of the Title II approach, is in the details.

Commissioner Ajit Pai has suggested that the FCC leaves itself linguistic wiggle room to apply Title II rate regs or unbundling it is initially not going to apply.

The FCC has been incorprating and responding to issues raised in the dissents from the two Republican commissioners, which are said to be lengthy documents. It is required to do so per instructions from a federal court, the same one that will likely be asked to hear the promised legal challenges to the order.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.