The One Telecom Group That *Does* Support Net Neutrality

Charles "Chip" Pickering, a conservative Republican former member of Congress and CEO of a telecommunications-industry group called Incompas, supports net neutrality. Under Pickering's leadership, Incompas has been a steadfast defender of 2015 rules adopted by the Federal Communications Commission that ban broadband providers like Comcast and Verizon from blocking or discriminating against lawful content. That’s placed it at odds with other industry groups working to undermine efforts to mandate net neutrality.Incompas  itself is something of a paradox. Historically, it's been a voice in Washington for smaller telecommunications companies. But in recent years it also welcomed tech companies as members. And not just companies that have dabbled in offering broadband services themselves, such as Facebook and Google's parent company, Alphabet. Its ranks also include Amazon, Netflix, and Twitter. What these companies have in common, Pickering explains, is opposition to the policy preferences of incumbent broadband companies like AT&T. "The idea is to 'unite the tribes,' if I were to use a Braveheart analogy," Pickering says. "I wanted to bring all of us who wanted competition and innovation into one alliance."

Pickering isn't new to the fight over net neutrality. He introduced one of the first net neutrality bills in Congress during his stint as a representative from Mississippi from 1997 until 2009. At that point, net neutrality wasn't on the agenda of many politicians on either side of the aisle.