FCC reclassifies broadband as Title II telecommunications service and adopts strongest net neutrality rules

The Federal Communications Commission votes 3-2 along party lines to reclassify broadband internet access as a "telecommunications service" under Title II of the Communications Act, simultaneously adopting the strongest possible net neutrality protections to date. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler announces the decision achieves "the strongest possible open Internet protections" by banning paid prioritization (fast lanes), blocking, and throttling while applying the rules equally to both fixed and mobile broadband. The order expressly forbears from applying 700+ FCC rules and 27 statutory provisions to maintain a "light-touch" regulatory framework, avoiding utility-style regulation while grounding net neutrality in the FCC's Title II authority affirmed by the Supreme Court in Brand X.