Time Warner Cable, AT&T and TIA slam Obama’s call for free Internet

Time Warner Cable, wireless carrier AT&T and telecom industry association TIA have opposed President Barack Obama’s call for open and free Internet.

AT&T said the White House is proposing to put the Internet and the U.S. economy at risk as a result of such political pressures. AT&T warned that “If the FCC puts such rules in place, we would expect to participate in a legal challenge to such action,” said Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice president, External & Legislative Affairs.

Time Warner Cable, a top cable company, remains committed to an open Internet, but disagrees with the President Obama’s statement that an open Internet can only be achieved by reclassifying broadband as a public utility.”

“Regulating broadband service under Title II, as the President proposes, will create uncertainty, lead to years of litigation and threaten the continued growth and development of the Internet. The FCC has sufficient tools without reclassifying broadband to protect the openness of the Internet, while at the same time encouraging continued investment and innovation in the Internet ecosystem,” said Time Warner Cable Chairman and CEO Rob Marcus.

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TIA CEO Scott Belcher said: “We are concerned over President Obama’s endorsement of reclassifying the Internet as a Title II utility-like telecom service.  Such a move would set the industry back decades, and threaten the private sector investment that is critically needed to ensure that the network can meet surging demand.”

Broadband user image by Google

“We saw a significant negative impact on investment the last time restrictive Title II regulation was in place, and no one will benefit from returning to that failed policy.  As manufacturers and suppliers who build the Internet backbone and supply the devices and services that ride over it, our companies strongly urge regulators to refrain from reclassification that will guarantee harm to consumers, the economy, and the very technologies we’re trying to protect,” Belcher said.

Wireless carriers such as AT&T and Verizon Wireless make around $20 billion towards their annual Capex (capital spending) to expand networks. They cannot afford to lose revenues from mobile broadband.

Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice president, External & Legislative Affairs, said: “Announcement by the White House, if acted upon by the FCC, would be a mistake that will do tremendous harm to the Internet and to U.S. national interests. It is a complete reversal of a bipartisan policy that has been in place since the Clinton Administration—namely, to treat Internet access as an information service subject to light-touch regulation.”

“This classification of Internet service has been upheld by the Supreme Court and has enjoyed strong Congressional support for nearly a generation. Now, with one statement, the White House is telling the FCC to ignore this precedent and to instead impose on the entire Internet—from end to end—onerous government regulation designed in the 1930s for a Bell phone monopoly that no longer exists, not for a 21st century technology. This will have a negative impact not only on investment and innovation, but also on our economy overall.”

Image source: Google

Baburajan K
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