The F.C.C. chairman wants to ‘stop micromanaging the internet.’

The Federal Communications Commission announced Tuesday that it planned to dismantle landmark net neutrality regulations that ensure equal access to the internet.

“Under my proposal, the federal government will stop micromanaging the internet,” F.C.C. chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement. “Instead, the F.C.C. would simply require internet service providers to be transparent about their practices so that consumers can buy the service plan that’s best for them and entrepreneurs and other small businesses can have the technical information they need to innovate.”

The move is a win for the giant telecoms like AT&T and Verizon as well as the big cable providers such as Comcast.

“The losers could be internet sites that will have to answer telecom firms to get their content in front of consumers. And consumers may see their bills increase for the best quality of internet service.”

Is Big business quietly rooting for AT&T and Time Warner?

Andrew worked the phones yesterday and hears:

Media executives at the other big content and distribution providers privately tell me that they hope AT&T and Time Warner do not find a way to settle. They are confident that the companies will win in court and hope that would put pressure on the Justice Department as it examines future deals.

A Justice Department official told reporters yesterday that the regulator isn’t reflexively against “vertical” mergers, despite the department's legal complaint arguing that this particular one would concentrate too much power in one company.

There’s a question of whether the Justice Department’s lawsuit would chill a busy period for mergers. Yet if the government wins, some deal making will continue — including some involving Time Warner. The WSJ points out that the forces that compelled Time Warner to sell itself aren’t going away.

As Michael Nathanson of the research firm Moffett Nathanson told the WSJ: “I don’t think things will stay quiet.”

Extra credit: See how frequently AT&T has factored into the history of American antitrust law.

Critics’ corner, Time Warner edition.

• Jennifer Saba and Gina Chon write of AT&T’s chief, Randall Stephenson, “Anything less than all-out victory this time would be fatal.” (Breakingviews)

• Ken Brown writes, “The flaw in Wall Street’s thinking was that precedent would hold in an administration that doesn’t highly value precedent.” (WSJ)

• Tara Lachapelle writes, “Both Time Warner and AT&T have plunged as the U.S. Justice Department tries to stop their merger, but AT&T needs the deal far more because it’s the linchpin of its video strategy.” (Gadfly)

The F.C.C.’s plan to repeal net neutrality is good news for AT&T.

The telecommunications giant and its peers have lobbied hard against the Obama administration’s efforts to prevent broadband providers from charging higher fees to access particular websites or online services like Netflix. Now the F.C.C. under Chairman Ajit Pai is poised to roll those initiatives back.