Tag Archives: broadband

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FCC Wants Landline to Be Treated the Same Way as Broadband

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FCC

The FCC heads back to the United States Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C to argue that it has the authority to regulate the existing internet providers with the ultimate goal of ensuring that all the legal content over the Internet is treated equally.

Users have a complaint against the company regarding net neutrality rules twice in front of the same court and beside one judge in particular, David Tatel. Previously, Tatel and his robed crew came to a conclusion that the FCC hasn’t had enough legal ground to regulate Internet access as if it is a public utility like electricity and water service and has sided with the opponents, internet access companies.

However, things are expected to go in a different way. Close sources revealed that Tatel’s previous ruling built a “roadmap” for the present ruling and a new Framework that the FCC can work with. The turning point, in this case, is that the FCC is defining “broadband” in a more unique way than before. It has now started including it under a statute known as Title II, that places broadband in the realm of telephone service. As the FCC has complete power to regulate phones, the agency argued that it had a solid case where it can attach most of the telephone rules to broadband.

In addition, the FCC is content as the Obama administration constantly supports the new rules to make another legal attempt if they lose this particular round. What matters the most is the FCC has promised it is not willing to set prices for high-speed Internet services and assured that new regulations will not allow them to that power.

Net neutrality

AT&T Halts Fiber Rollout over New Net Neutrality Push

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AT&T

After the recent statements made by President Obama and FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler regarding the possibility of reclassifying broadband providers under the Title II regulations of the Communications Act for utilities, AT&T has settled to pause its planned rollout of its new U-Verse GigaPower fiber service until the expected argument regarding the issue is settled once and for all. CEO Randall Stephenson said that it is not feasible to make the move investing the amount of money it would take to deploy fiber to 100 cities while being still unaware of the rules under which those investments will be governed. Therefore, it is wiser to simply pause and take time to develop the insights and understanding about how those rules will be implemented and what their impact would be.

Reacting to the statements made by Obama and Wheeler on the Net neutrality push, AT&T threatened legal action if any attempt was made at Title II classification for broadband providers along with other carriers. Although this latest move by AT&T seems logical in the turn of events, it also throws some light on the psychology of the major carrier. AT&T is indeed feeling threatened by the statements made by Obama and Wheeler regarding the new push because being reclassified as a utility would mean that the company would no longer enjoy the advantages it currently does as a broadband provider.

Without the advantages in infrastructure control and local monopoly power that AT&T has been benefiting from all these years, it would be forced to compete against local competitors and resellers, much like its namesake predecessor did when the Bell System was broken up during the 1980’s, which lead to competition and growth in the telephone sector that drove down prices for local and long-distance calling.

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Post DirecTV Acquisition, AT&T Continues Hunt for More

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Post DirecTV

Even after the acquisition of DirecTV as well as its 18 million subscribers in Latin America, the hunt by AT&T Inc. (T) continues as it eyes more acquisitions in the region. The primary base for this rigorous quest by AT&T springs from the lucrative opportunities in the region because it is growing 10 times faster than the U.S. The $48.5 billion takeover of DirecTV by AT&T will hand over numerous satellite-TV subscribers to the American multinational telecommunications corporation, most of which are spread across Latin America, particularly in Mexico and Brazil. The deal with DirecTV will be the first of AT&T’s attempts to extend its reach outside the U.S. in more than 10 years. Such an expansion by the company is crucial to driving growth as the wireless industry becomes more saturated in the domestic sector.

The key to competing in the new markets lies in providing customers not only with satellite TV, but also mobile phone service and broadband access in countries like Mexico. These are places where less than half of the homes in the region pay for TV or Internet. In this regard, Jonathan Chaplin, an analyst with New Street Research commented that AT&T needs to acquire more assets south of the border if it is targeting growth outside the U.S. The move by the U.S. telephone giant is geared by the fact that DirecTV has a great competitive product in Latin America, but it will also need broadband capabilities. The company has been testing wireless Internet access where it may make more sense to buy large landline networks that already have broadband subscribers.

Continuing with options in the U.S. that are limited to expanding its phone and TV services, AT&T is still trying its hand at making new offerings such as home security and selling wireless service to connect cars to the Internet. However, these opportunities are still in the early stages.