A representative of Comcast declined to comment pending Genachowski's speech. Verizon Wireless will wait until Genachowski's speech before making a comment, a spokesman of that company said.

But Randolph May, president of conservative think tank the Free State Foundation, said it is "discouraging" that the FCC is considering new broadband regulations.

"In light of the way competition is continuing to develop in the broadband marketplace, and with only a few isolated instances of complaints alleging net neutrality-like abuses ever having been filed, it is a mistake for the chairman to propose common carrier-type regulation in the broadband world," he said.

The mobile-phone and Internet industry would be concerned "about the unintended consequences that net neutrality regulation would have on investments from the very industry that's helping to drive the U.S. economy," added Chris Guttman-McCabe, vice president of regulatory affairs for CTIA, a mobile trade group. "We believe that this kind of regulation is unnecessary in the competitive wireless space as it would prevent carriers from managing their networks -- such as curtailing viruses and other harmful content -- to the benefit of their consumers."