Snow slows FCC, but Genachowski keeps heat on net neutrality

The FCC postponed two of its events this week, including its monthly meeting, because of a snowstorm that has crippled the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

The federal government has been closed since Monday as the area recovers from the record storm. The FCC postponed its monthly meeting to Feb. 18, and indefinitely postponed a public forum to discuss the creation of an emergency response interoperability center for public-safety broadband communications.

The agency is working feverishly to complete its national broadband plan, which it plans to submit to Congress in March--one month later than originally anticipated. The commission has been using its monthly meetings to give status updates on the plan.

Despite the cold and snow blowing across the nation's capital, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski appeared to be turning up the heat on his defense of how the FCC has approached net neutrality regulations. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, he said he has made it clear that the FCC is going to look to regulate Internet lines for both wireless and wireline companies, and not Internet content.

"The communications line piece is something that we have historic responsibility for (in) promoting competition and promoting innovation," Genachowski said. "So that is the distinction."

For more:
- see this FCC notice on its public meeting
- see this FCC notice
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)

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