Sen. Edward Markey says his proposal to override the Federal Communications Commission and reinstate net neutrality will go to a vote next week, a decision that could have a huge impact here in Massachusetts.
“From a Massachusetts perspective, we have hundreds of companies, companies whose names are now, some of them are now famous: Tripadvisor, Wayfair, Carbonite, whose business model is based on the fact that they can reach the capital markets to reach the venture capital that they need because they have unfettered access to all 320 million people in the United States of America,” Markey said in an interview with Boston Public Radio Thursday. “When you look at all the real estate going up in Greater Boston, a lot of it is just all these smaller companies, dozens of them, scores of them — hundreds of them — that are all based on an internet model, and they can gain access to the capital they need and 50 percent of all venture capital in America last year went to internet and software startups.”
Markey’s provision, the Congressional Review Act Resolution, would reinstate net neutrality protections, which would ensure that internet provider companies like Verizon and Comcast couldn't favor certain websites with faster download speeds.
“This is an incredible issue, 86 percent of all Americans in polling say they support net neutrality, 82 percent of all Republicans in polling say they support net neutrality, so this is going to be a huge, huge, national debate next week,” Markey said. “We’re about to have the most important vote on the internet next week on the floor of the Senate.”
Markey’s bill has the support of 49 Democrats and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). If passed by the Senate, the provision then heads to the House, where it faces an uphill battle.
“We expect millions of people to communicate with their senators over the next week,” Markey said.
To hear the full interview, click on the audio player above.
