When AT&T announced it’s new Sponsored Data program on Monday, they raised the grim spectre of Net Neutraility by suggesting a plan that would let advertisers pay for data. What people worried about was that AT&T’s new plan would slow data connections to non-partner sites, a big no-no according to the FCC.
So what does the FCC think of all this? Asked about AT&T’s new plans at CES, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler was surprisingly chill about the whole thing: let’s just wait and see before freaking out, shall we?
The Verge has Wheeler’s comments:
“My attitude is: let’s take a look at what this is, let’s take a look at how it operates,” Wheeler said. “And be sure, that if it interferes with the operation of the internet; that if it develops into an anticompetitive practice; that if it does have some kind of preferential treatment given somewhere, then that is cause for us to intervene.”
…
He outlined what wireless and broadband service companies should do to stay out of the FCC’s crosshairs: “you won’t screw up operation of the internet, you won’t act in anticompetitive or preferential ways.” He added: “We’ll use those kinds of tests to see what the appropriate response [from the FCC] will be, if any.”
That seems like a sensible approach, although AT&T has certainly proven itself in the past to be a company that will take a mile given an inch. The FCC better watch closely.
Source: The Verge
