• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, October 10, 2014

President Barack Obama made clear on Thursday that he opposes Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler's proposal to allow broadband providers to create online fast lanes.

"I made a commitment very early on that I am unequivocally committed to Net neutrality,” Obama said during a town hall in Santa Monica, Calif. He went on to say that Net neutrality has “unleashed the power of the Internet.”

“We don’t want to lose that or clog up the pipes,” he added.

Obama then specifically addressed paid prioritization -- the concept that would allow broadband providers to charge companies higher fees to speed delivery of their content. "I know that one of the things people are most concerned about is paid prioritization, the notion that somehow some folks can pay a little more money and get better service, more exclusive access to customers through the Internet. That is something I’m opposed to,” he said.

The president added that even though the FCC is an independent agency, he has communicated his position to Wheeler. “What the White House has been clear about, is that we expect that whatever final rules emerge, to make sure that we’re not creating two or three or four tiers of Internet. That ends up being a big priority of mine,” he said.

Net neutrality advocates cheered the remarks, but also point out that there's no guarantee the FCC will take its cue from the White House. “It's great that President Obama reaffirmed his commitment to Net neutrality,” Michael Weinberg, vice president of Public Knowledge, tells Online Media Daily. “The challenge now is making sure the person he appointed to run the FCC turns that into action.”

Obama's remarks come as the FCC is trying to craft new Net neutrality rules, which will replace the regulations that were gutted by a federal appeals court in January. Wheeler proposed rules that would prohibit providers from blocking or degrading service, but would allow them to create “commercially reasonable” paid prioritization arrangements.

The proposal has drawn a record-breaking 3.7 million comments, most of which oppose allowing online fast lanes.

Neutrality advocates instead are urging the FCC to reclassify broadband as a “telecommunications” service. Advocates say that doing so would enable the agency to require broadband providers to follow the same kinds of common carrier rules as telephone companies.

Telecoms and cable companies oppose any effort to reclassify broadband access. They argue that the rules developed for telecommunications services wouldn't fit well with the Internet.

Wheeler has said he hopes to pass new rules by the end of the year.