The Federal Communications Commission will likely soon repeal Obama-era rules requiring internet providers to treat all online traffic equally—a decision that brought swift condemnation from associations representing online businesses but praise from telecom groups.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai unveiled a plan Tuesday that would dismantle the "net neutrality" regulations the commission had enacted under President Barack Obama. He is also proposing rules preventing states from enacting their own net neutrality regulations.

The Internet Association—which represents online businesses such as Google and Amazon—said Pai's proposals represent "the end of net neutrality as we know it."

"This proposal undoes nearly two decades of bipartisan agreement on baseline net neutrality principles that protect Americans' ability to access the entire internet," IA CEO Michael Beckerman said.

Net neutrality supporters believe the Obama-era regulations are needed to prevent internet service providers from picking winners and losers among online services. Without net neutrality, an ISP could levy fees on online streaming services such as Netflix or charge customers extra for access to applications they now use.

"Chairman Pai's aggressive proposal would provide a feast for the big ISPs, and leave the rest of us—thousands of businesses and millions of consumers—with cold leftover scraps," Computer & Communications Industry Association CEO Ed Black said.

Telecommunications providers counter that net neutrality supporters' concerns are exaggerated. The Obama-era regulations were enacted "without any evidence that ISPs were degrading or interfering with internet access," said Michael Powell, CEO of NCTA—The Internet & Television Association.

"The draft order will not change how our companies view the freedoms intrinsic to internet service, but critically, it will correct the prior FCC's mistake in relying on an outdated framework that elevates government micromanagement over market innovation and growth," Powell said.

CTIA, which represents wireless carriers, said Pai's decision frees the Internet from "investment-chilling utility style regulation."

In enacting the plan, "Chairman Pai will restore the long-standing bipartisan approach to the Internet, which will help drive billions of new dollars into mobile broadband networks, boost our economy, and ensure that we continue to lead the world in mobile wireless services," CTIA CEO Meredith Attwell Baker said.

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