The National
Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) has split the
difference between those who want the FCC to apply its network
neutrality rules to wireless broadband and specialized services
(the Open Internet Coalition, for example), and those who want the FCC
to apply them to neither (AT&T).
In comments
filed at the FCC Tuesday, NCTA said that the FCC should not expand and
codify its network neutrality rules, period. But if it does, the cable
trade group says, it should apply them only
to a "clearly defined broadband Internet access service" and not a
managed service, which is not delivered via the public Internet.
And NCTA
argues that what is sauce for the wired ISP ought to be sauce for
wireless broadband providers. NCTA says it would be "arbitrary and
capricious" to apply rules to wired ISPS while exempting
wireless gateways, not to mention, though NCTA actually did, that it
would provide a regulatory advantage to the wireless providers.
And
extending the comparison, NCTA said that the same net neutrality rules
should also apply to search engines and other content gateways,
particularly transparency and disclosure rules the FCC has
proposed adding to its current four Internet openness principles.
The FCC
proposal has was made last fall, but the BitTorrent court decision
calling its broadband regulatory authority into question has delayed
action. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has the necessary
three votes for approval.
