WASHINGTON - May 28 - The Federal Communications Commission released the agenda for its June 17, 2010, open meeting, which will focus on how the FCC should set rules for broadband Internet services. Free Press Research Director S. Derek Turner said:

"We are pleased that the FCC is making sure it has the authority to protect consumers and close the digital divide. The road to reclassification will be difficult, and Chairman Genachowski will have to remain strong and decisive in the face of the powerful industry lobbying machine that will try to derail his efforts.

"We are perplexed as to why the FCC's announcement seems to contemplate a separate treatment for wireless networks under the law. All of the reasons that consumers need protection in the wired broadband market apply equally to wireless. The chairman has made wireless broadband the cornerstone of his National Broadband Plan, and re-establishing the FCC's authority over all forms of Internet access is critical to the Plan's implementation.

"The FCC's own policy goals cannot be realized if wireless broadband is left by the wayside."