FCC Chairman Unveils New Broadband Regulation Direction

Julius Genachowski, the head of the Federal Communications Commission, will unveil a new compromise plan for regulating broadband Internet service providers. The new proposal would allow the service providers to offer tiered rates for different levels of service. The five-member commission will vote on the new tack at a meeting later this month.

In a speech he plans to give Wednesday in Washington, Julius Genachowski, the F.C.C. chairman, will outline a framework for broadband Internet service that forbids both wired and wireless Internet service providers from blocking lawful content.

But the proposal would allow broadband providers to charge consumers different rates for different levels of service, according to a text of the speech provided to The New York Times.

Mr. Genachowski has decided not to use the commission's telephone regulatory powers to govern broadband Internet service, a move that he proposed in May that would potentially open Internet service to heavier government regulation.

His proposal would also allow broadband providers to manage their networks to limit congestion or harmful traffic. The framework will form the basis for a proposed order scheduled to be voted on during the F.C.C.'s Dec. 21 meeting.

Read the full story at the New York Times.