It's basically official, net neutrality is doomed

The death knell for net neutrality got a lot louder on Tuesday when new FCC Chairman Ajit Pai called the rules "a mistake" during a keynote speech at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Pai had in his prepared remarks a passage that said: "It has become evident that the FCC made a mistake. Our new approach injected tremendous uncertainty into the broadband market. And uncertainty is the enemy of growth."

Pai was an outspoken critic of net neutrality while serving as an FCC commissioner during President Obama's second term and opposed current net neutrality regulations when they were voted on in 2015.

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Now that he's in the chairman's seat, he's already started undermining net neutrality efforts put in place by his predecessor, Tom Wheeler, most notably by choosing not to pursue one major issue — "zero rating."

The FCC has backed off its inquiries into three "zero rating" programs, in which wireless companies let consumers visit websites and stream content from certain companies without counting against data caps. AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon had each been the subject of an inquiry from the FCC into their zero-rating arrangements. 

Net neutrality proponents aren't thrilled with such programs as they say it sways consumers to favoring these companies over others, choosing these services so they can stream music and movies without causing a dent in their monthly data limits.

During his speech Tuesday, Pai cited that decision as an example of a "light-touch Internet regulation." He then pointed to his decision to drop those inquiries as the reason why all four major mobile carriers now offer unlimited data plans. According to Ars Technica, Pai said:

In the days following our decision, all four national wireless providers in the United States announced new unlimited data plans or expanded their existing ones. Consumers are now benefiting from these offers—offers made possible by a competitive marketplace. And remember: Preemptive government regulation did not produce that result. The free market did.

Pai is probably taking credit where credit isn't due, though. Prior to Trump's election in November 2016, three of the four carriers — T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T — were already offering unlimited plans (though, in AT&T's case for a certain set of customers) and, as The Verge notes, were a result of FCC rules put in place by Wheeler.

What Pai is doing is playing on perception. A few weeks ago, Verizon resurrected its unlimited data wireless plan which, in turn, forced the other mobile companies to compete for your hard-earned dollars and bleary-eyed streams. T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T all offered tweaks to their plans meant to make each more competitive.

Regardless of who's responsible for the unlimited plans, it doesn't change the fact that doing with net neutrality will result in some big changes for internet users, few of them for the good.

And if none of these reasons raise your hackles, just remember that Pai is also trying to make it easier for your cable company to sell your data without your permission. So you'll have him to thank when Comcast sells you out to the highest bidder.

Additional reporting by Jason Abbruzzese