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February 10, 2015 Robin Colwell, (202) 418-2013
Robin.Colwell@fcc.gov
STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER MICHAEL O’RIELLY ON
INTERNET REGULATION AND FAUXBEARANCE
I am troubled by statements that the Net Neutrality item will grant broad forbearance 
from Title II, and I feel compelled to respond to these claims. The promised forbearance amounts 
to fauxbearance. The FCC fact sheet clearly states that the item leaves in place more than a 
dozen provisions that are central to common carrier regulation.  With regulations ranging from 
rates to privacy to pole attachments copied and pasted onto broadband service, most of Title II 
will apply right out of the box, with more to come later.  Indeed, sections 201 and 202, by 
themselves, are so broad in scope that they could easily be used as a means to backfill all of the 
fauxbearance provided from other provisions.  
While much attention has been paid to the rate regulation language contained in sections 
201(b) and 202(a), I am equally troubled by the implications of section 201(a), which requires 
common carriers to provide service upon “reasonable request” and empowers the Commission to 
order carriers “to establish physical connections” and “through routes”.  In other words, the 
Commission could demand that ISPs provide service, including interconnection.  Nowhere in the 
fact sheet does the FCC disavow its intent to do so, so I must consider that it is a real possibility.  
Additionally, subjecting so many practices to a case-by-case determination of “reasonableness” 
raises major concerns about further delegation of Commission authority to agency st aff, a 
phenomenon that has already gone much too far in my opinion.  The FCC fact sheet promises the 
certainty of “bright line rules,” but instead raises many more questions than answers, and 
exposes the uncertainty that will chill broadband investment and innovation to the harm of 
consumers.