FCC National Broadband Plan Does Not Require Title II, AT&T Says

Robert Quinn, Senior VP, federal regulatory, for AT&T, argues that the FCC does not need to redefine broadband as a Title II telecommunications service in order to implement its proposed national broadband plan, particularly its changes to the Universal Service Fund.

The "Open Internet Coalition" including  Google, Sony, Public Knowledge and the Free Press have been arguing for that classification as necessary for the plan's recommendations.

AT&T filed an analysis with the FCC Monday saying it thought the commission still has "all the authority it needs" to migrate the Universal Service Fund from phone to broadband service or to implement the online privacy recommendations. "The FCC has all the authority it needs to go out and do the things it has identified in the national broadband plan," Quinn argues.

He said suggestions that the court decision could significantly impede the broadband plan were overblown, and that classifying it as a more regulated Title II (common carrier) service would chill investment, which could adversely impact broadband deployment.

"I think at a time when we need more than anything else is infrastructure investment, I think it would provide a huge disincentive for entities to invest in this space," Quinn says.

Quinn said, ultimately, Congress may need to step in and clarify the scope of the FCC's broadband oversight, but that in the meantime the FCC has authority over changes to universal service, protecting proprietary customer information online and making broadband accessible to disabilities, for example.