U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski will unveil in a speech on Monday new proposals that would force Internet providers to treat the flow of content equally, sources familiar with the speech said on Friday.

The concept, referred to as net neutrality, pits open Internet companies like Google Inc against broadband service providers like AT&T Inc, Verizon Communications Inc, and Comcast Corp, which oppose new rules governing network management.

Advocates of net neutrality say Internet service providers must be barred from blocking or slowing traffic based on content.

Providers say the increasing volume of bandwidth-hogging services like video sharing requires active management of their networks and some argue that net neutrality could stifle innovation.

He is going to announce rulemaking, said one source familiar with his speech about broadband, to be delivered at the Brookings Institution, a public policy think tank. The commission will have to codify into new regulations the principle of nondiscrimination.

The FCC could formally propose the rules aimed at applying to wireless and landline platforms at an open meeting in October.

(Reporting by John Poirier; Editing by Gary Hill)

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