By Juliana Greenwald, National Journal

Saying the issue has been studied long enough, public interest groups Wednesday called on the FCC to proceed with action on network neutrality rules that would bar broadband providers from discriminating against or prioritizing Internet content.

The groups made the call in response to the public notice issued Wednesday by the commission related to its open Internet proceeding. It has called for additional public comment on whether open Internet rules should be applied to wireless broadband and “specialized” services. It comes less than a month after Google and Verizon released a proposal that called for exempting such services from net neutrality rules, while applying them to wireline broadband.

“The FCC continues to kick the can down the road and prolong this process, but the longer the FCC ponders the politics of net neutrality, the longer consumers are left unprotected,” Free Press Research Director S. Derek Turner said. “It is time for the FCC to stop writing notices and start making clear rules of the road.”

Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn said the public notice should not stop the commission from moving forward on FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s “third way” proposal aimed at solidifying the FCC’s authority over broadband providers by reclassifying some aspects of broadband as a telecommunications service. That proposal would allow the FCC to proceed on its open Internet rules. The commission’s authority over broadband providers was put in doubt in April after a federal appeals court ruled the FCC went too far when it tried to enforce network neutrality principles against Comcast.

“Nothing in this public notice prevents the FCC from taking prompt action on its ‘Third Way’ proceeding, which would make certain all Americans have affordable access to broadband, and to make sure it can deal with public safety and other crucial issues that are broader than the narrow issues on which the Commission seeks comment,” Sohn said in a statement.

Media Access Project Associate Director Matt Wood added that the FCC has sought and received information on the same questions it asked in the latest public notice. “The record demonstrates already that the same framework and openness principles should apply to all broadband access services, even if the rules differ on the basis of legitimate technological differences,” he said. “The record also shows that the commission must retain authority over specialized services.”

Industry players were more supportive of the FCC’s lastest move on the issue.

“We are happy the chairman and the commissioners realize that wireless is different,” CTIA President and CEO Steve Largent said in a statement. “We will continue to work with them to explain why these rules are unnecessary and should not be applied to the wireless ecosystem.”

AT&T Senior Executive Vice President Jim Cicconi said his company has “worked hard to find common ground on these difficult issues and feel good progress has been made. In particular, we feel a path can be found that addresses concerns about Internet openness, while at the same time preserving jobs and protecting needed investment.”