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Cisco is “deeply troubled” by proposals to impose...

Cisco is “deeply troubled” by proposals to impose “old-fashioned” Title II “telephone regulations” to broadband Internet access service, CEO John Chambers told FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in a phone call Tuesday, an ex parte filing said. “By keeping the heavy…

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hand of Title II regulation out of the Internet, the FCC has encouraged huge investment in Internet infrastructure,” Cisco said. “If Title II regulation is brought to broadband Internet access services, investment in new infrastructure will be severely hamstrung. New, innovative services may not be brought to market because entrepreneurs fear telecommunications regulation. The competitiveness of our nation will be threatened because, in a global world, investment and jobs will move to countries that encourage innovation.” Chambers said he’s passionate about the issue because it’s “crucial” to the future of the Internet. “Will we have rules that only seek to protect innovation on the edge of the network by imposing onerous regulation on the core of the network? Or will we take a balanced approach that encourages innovation everywhere in the Internet ecosystem while protecting consumers and competition?” Interconnection rules must be part of any net neutrality rewrite, Level 3 told an aide to Wheeler Monday, an ex parte filing said (http://bit.ly/1sORjGh). The FCC must not “simply reinstate its previous rules” on net neutrality, Level 3 said. Wheeler says he won’t let some companies force Internet users into a slow lane, but that’s “precisely what is happening today,” Level 3 said: “Some of the biggest consumer broadband ISPs have allowed the interconnections between their networks and backbone providers like Level 3 to congest, causing packets to be dropped and harming their own users’ Internet experience.” To ensure its rules actually achieve their goal, “the Commission must also prohibit ISPs from imposing access tolls for the privilege of reaching the ISPs’ end users,” Level 3 said.