AT&T (NYSE: T) has made some commitments to the FCC in order to win approval for its merger with Bell South (NYSE: BLS). I wrote about some of these earlier.
The section on network neutrality begins with a commitment to uphold the FCC’s principles set out in a 2005 policy statement for 30 months following the closing date of the merger.
- To encourage broadband deployment and preserve and promote the open and interconnected nature of the public Internet, consumers are entitled to access the lawful Internet content of their choice.
- To encourage broadband deployment and preserve and promote the open and interconnected nature of the public Internet, consumers are entitled to run applications and use services of their choice, subject to the needs of law enforcement.
- To encourage broadband deployment and preserve and promote the open and interconnected nature of the public Internet, consumers are entitled to connect their choice of legal devices that do not harm the network.
- To encourage broadband deployment and preserve and promote the open and interconnected nature of the public Internet, consumers are entitled to competition among network providers, application and service providers, and content providers.
These are pretty tame principles, explaining why some “save the internet” advocates sought greater anti-discrimination provisions, which AT&T goes on to provide with a 24 month sunset.
Why is AT&T only willing to sign up for 30 months to these basic FCC principles?