AT&T head makes personal appeal on ‘fast lane’ proposal

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson met with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler to discuss new network neutrality rules.

Stephenson urged Chairman Wheeler not to enact tough regulations on Internet service providers by reclassifying broadband Internet service to treat it like traditional phone lines. Taking that potentially controversial step would be “contrary” to the FCC’s precedent and “would negatively impact” companies’ ability to build out new high-speed broadband networks, Stephenson told Chairman Wheeler. Stephenson said that the FCC had all the authority it needed to ban “fast lanes” on the Internet without resorting to that step.