Federal Communications Commission chairman Tom Wheeler, who championed strong net neutrality rules, resigned on Thursday, calling his service “during this period of historical technological change” a particular honor.
“It has been a privilege to work with my fellow commissioners to help protect consumers, strengthen public safety and cybersecurity, and ensure fast, fair and open networks for all Americans,” Wheeler wrote.
His resignation paves the way for a likely more conservative FCC chairman under Donald Trump and a new battle over net neutrality.
Wheeler’s loudest opposition on the five-member commission, Ajit Pai, said Wheeler “brought passion and tenacity to the playing field each and every day” in a statement to press, and that it had been a privilege to serve alongside him.
Wheeler came to the position after leading two separate lobbying instruments for the cable industry: the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA) and the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA), where he was president and CEO, respectively.
Both groups, representing AT&T, Comcast, and dozens of other telcos, sued the FCC over net neutrality during Wheeler’s leadership. The regulator passed broad rules reclassifying internet service under the same category as telephone service, preventing web providers from forcing subscribers into “slow lanes” unless they paid more. The industry groups lost the lawsuit in June.
Wheeler was met with suspicion when president Barack Obama first appointed him. Comedian John Oliver said Obama’s choice was “the equivalent of needing a babysitter and hiring a dingo” and encouraged viewers to flood the FCC’s system with pro-net neutrality comments. Wheeler himself was taken aback when the comments came at such a volume that they crashed the comments system. “I would like to state for the record that I am not a dingo,” he said when pressed by a reporter over the incident.
Indeed, Wheeler has been instrumental in changing the industry to accommodate new players and to vex the establishment he once represented. “My history has always been working with the insurgent, not the incumbent,” he told Ars Technica last year.
