AT&T Calls FCC Neutrality Plan a ‘Bait and Switch’

AT&T Calls FCC Neutrality Plan a ‘Bait and Switch’ - http://ping.fm/2jQ7y

By Saul Hansell - New York Times Technology

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You’ve got to hand it to AT&T. They don’t like Julius Genachowski’s plan to apply network neutrality rules to wireless networks, and they aren’t shy about saying so.

Not so for Verizon and Sprint, which declined to answer a direct question about whether they think wireless systems should be covered by net neutrality rules.

The current state of play is vague. In 2005, the Federal Communications Commission issued a broad policy statement for broadband networks, never specifying whether it applied only to wireline Internet service or to wireless service as well. On Monday, Mr. Genachowski, now the commission’s chairman, proposed expanding those principles, formalizing them into official rules and explicitly extending them to wireless networks.

(In typical Obama administration style, the commission has set up a site, OpenInternet.gov where the public can watch Mr. Genachowski’s speech and comment on the issue.)

In its statement, AT&T said it supported applying the existing four neutrality principles to wired networks, and is open to adding a fifth principle that would prevent companies from discriminating against certain services and applications on wired networks. But the company drew the line at wireless networks.

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