Telecommunications and cable companies scored a victory in the US Congress on Wednesday when a key House committee defeated plans for strict price controls on the high-speed networks that will form the next generation of internet connectivity.

The House energy and commerce committee voted 34-22 on Wednesday to defeat a Democrat-sponsored amendment that would have prevented AT&T, Verizon and Comcast from charging more for priority access to the high-speed networks of the future. Despite the defeat, the debate on “net neutrality” – the principle that all content providers should be treated equally on the internet – is far from over, say lobbyists, which pits big telecoms companies against giants of the internet content world, such as Google, Yahoo and eBay.