Mobile Networks Caught in 'Open Internet' Debate

The already-heated debate over proposed rules on how broadband providers must treat traffic on their networks just got hotter, as regulators consider how the plan might apply to mobile networks as well.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler raised the possibility that the agency would subject broadband mobile to proposed "open Internet" rules. The rules would ban providers from blocking or slowing down individual websites but open the door for content companies to pay providers for special access to consumers, like faster lanes. In reviewing the 3.7 million comments the agency has received since the comment period opened May 15, agency officials say they've been struck by the number of arguments from people who think mobile networks shouldn't be exempt from such rules.