AT&T said if its $49 billion acquisition of DirecTV receives approval, it will obey some of the FCC's new net neutrality rules. The carrier has notoriously opposed the FCC's net neutrality rules thus far – even filing a lawsuit seeking to block them – but it may now agree to comply with at least some stipulations.
While AT&T previously said it would not agree to any net neutrality rules to facilitate its DirecTV acquisition, Washington Post just reported that the company has had a change of mind. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the publication said AT&T is now willing to obey "aspects of the net neutrality rules" if the merger goes through.
Federal regulators will likely approve AT&T's acquisition of DirecTV in a few weeks. To get the green light and complete the deal, AT&T is expected to engage in several commitments to ease concerns that consumers might have over this acquisition.
"If AT&T ultimately followed the newer rules for Internet providers, it would be committing to at least three things," the Post explained. "It would honor the FCC's ban on the slowing of Web sites, as well as a ban on blocking Web sites. It would also comply with a ban against taking payments from Web site operators to speed up their content, a practice known as 'paid prioritization.'"
Meanwhile, some other aspects remain unsettled. The FCC is making efforts to convince companies to route traffic without charging a fee. It will be interesting to see how AT&T deals with interconnection. Other companies, such as Netflix, pay a fee to directly rout content to consumers.
If the FCC has its way, Netflix and others in the same position would no longer pay AT&T for this interconnection. AT&T, for its part, is arguing that it should be able to keep the existing deals it has with private delivery firms.
Other issues remain unresolved as well — but AT&T should establish some common ground with the FCC soon. If AT&T yields and commits to some of the FCC's new net neutrality rules, it will make a dent in the united front of carriers who pledged to combat net neutrality.
Lastly, the Washington Post pointed out that AT&T's agreement with the FCC would force the carrier to respect the FCC's new net neutrality stipulations for an unspecified number of years. This means that even if AT&T does win the lawsuit it filed against the FCC's new net neutrality rules, it would still be bound by the agreement to follow them.
