Public Knowledge wants details of Verizon-cable research project

Consumer group Public Knowledge asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to publicly reveal details about Verizon's plan to launch a joint research operation with a group of cable companies.

The research project is part of a $3.6 billion deal between Verizon and cable companies Comcast, Time Warner, Bright House and Cox, who agreed to pool their resources to research new technologies. The deal would also allow Verizon to buy wireless airwave licenses from the cable companies, and the companies agreed to cross-sell each other's services. Public Knowledge argues that the planned joint research project could be the first step toward a cartel of the major video, Internet and wireless providers. The public interest group already has access to confidential information that Verizon and the cable companies submitted to the FCC for its investigation. But in the new filing, Public Knowledge argued that the companies should publicly reveal some of those documents. The group said the public should have access to the "basic governance structure" of the joint research project. "The governance structure of the [Joint Operating Entity] is neither highly confidential nor confidential, but is critical to assessing the public interest impacts of the proposed transactions; understanding the connections between the Applicants’ spectrum, marketing, resale, and JOE agreements; and determining whether the JOE will establish the basis for a future cartel between its members," Public Knowledge wrote.