It has been barely two weeks since the FCC unveiled its national broadband plan to Congress and did not take long for the political gloves to come off.
One idea that did not sit well with some Republicans is the notion of reclassifying broadband as a common carrier service like POTS service. "The worst idea I've heard in years is reclassification," Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said. "I don't want to regulate broadband like we regulated telephone service in the 1930s."
Reclassification was only one of many issues that Republican leaders did not like about the FCC's broadband plan. Some also took issue with the FCC's requirement that broadband providers should share networks with competitive carriers, while others wondered if the FCC should have created a broadband plan at all.
In addition to the protests, the Senate Commerce Committee, decided to delay its March 23rd hearing on the FCC's plan until April 14. Although the committee did not give a reason why they suddenly changed the date, it's possible it could be related to the Obama administration's health care reform bill.
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