Net neutrality enters merger debate

The coalition of groups backing Net neutrality is asking the Federal Communications Commission to use the merger of AT&T and BellSouth as an opportunity to impose stricter conditions on non-discriminatory use of the Internet than the FCC has today.

In its public comments on the proposed merger, which were filed today, the It’s Our Net Coalition asked the FCC to require a merged BellSouth-AT&T “to abide by tailored nondiscrimination requirements guaranteeing evenhanded treatment of all Internet-based applications, content, and services traffic traversing its broadband facilities, regardless of its source, destination, or ownership.”

The organization argued in its filing that the September 2005 FCC ruling which lifted common carriage requirements from broadband and instead set out guidelines designed to protect consumers from discrimination don’t go far enough to protect content creators and doesn’t have any enforcement mechanism.

“The FCC’s Policy Statement fails to address a critical issue: discrimination by broadband providers against unaffiliated Internet content, services, and
applications,” the group said. The coalition is asking the FCC to include a specific and enforceable network neutrality requirement as part of its merger approval.

Such as requirement should include committing AT&T to “treating in a nondiscriminatory manner all Internet traffic traversing its broadband facilities in either direction,” the group’s filing stated, adding that this will specifically prevent tiered services. And it should include specific enforcement provisions.

In a prepared statement, AT&T dismissed the Coalition’s concerns.

“The issues raised today by proponents of Net neutrality smack of public relations-driven opportunism as opposed to a thoughtful approach to policymaking,” said Jim Cicconi, AT&T Senior Executive Vice President--External and Legislative Affairs. “The proper place to be debating the pros and cons of Net neutrality is in the U.S. Congress or in an industry-wide proceeding at the FCC. It is not appropriate or justified to set policy in this area based on applying merger conditions on only one company. Perhaps the efforts of the It's Our Net Coalition will be better served by encouraging all infrastructure providers to accept to the same FCC Net neutrality principles that AT&T has already agreed to voluntarily.”

AT&T did receive support for the merger in FCC filings from international public safety groups including fire chiefs and policemen, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow Coalition, The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council and a number of state and regional organizations, most of which were supporting the merger in the belief it will help expand broadband service penetration.

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