Verizon, AT&T, CenturyLink and other members want net neutrality review
The US Telecom Association, which counts carriers Verizon Communications, AT&T, Alaska Communications and many others as members, on March 23 asked a federal appeals court for a review of the Federal Communication Commission’s recent order regarding net neutrality.
In February, the FCC voted to bring fixed, mobile and broadband Internet access under Title II regulations that consider, among many other rules, no website blocking or charging more for so-called “fast lanes.”
The US Telecom Association is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit to review the FCC’s order, which the trade group calls “arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion …”
The filing alleges that the FCC’s newly adopted posture stands in violation of the Constitution, the Communications Act of 1934 and previously authorized regulations.
The lawsuit, and a similar suit from small Texas operator Alamo Broadband, isn’t really a surprise; AT&T has singularly signaled a lawsuit as has Comcast and others.
The US Telecom Association also forecasted legal action with a Feb. 26 statement from President Walter McCormick.
“Today’s action by the FCC is the wrong path for achieving broadband deployment in all parts of the United States,” McCormick said. “It redefines the Internet, inserts the federal government deeply into its management and invites other countries to do the same.
“In reversing longstanding bipartisan precedent, and imposing public utility regulation on the most dynamic sector of our nation’s economy, the FCC is adopting policies that were not designed – nor ever intended – for the Internet.”
Prior to the filing, McCormick said his group “will now turn to the courts for review, and given the broad consensus that exists on the underlying objectives, will look forward to working with the Congress on a bipartisan basis to advance legislation.”
Similarly, AT&T signaled its opposition – and attendant legal posture – by way of two letters to the FCC from Hank Hultquist, VP federal regulatory.
“The FCC cannot mandate that a service be offered on a common carrier basis without, at a minimum, a finding that a particular provider has market power in a particular geographic market,” Hulquist wrote in a blog post regarding the letters.
“Needless to say the FCC has engaged in no analysis of market power on a geographic market basis. Accordingly, this option is simply not available to the FCC.”
