Comcast's Cohen Sees Way To 'Yes' on Paid Prioritization Compromise

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Paid prioritization has become the third rail of net neutrality discussions, Comcast senior EVP David Cohen said, but it should not be. Cohen said he has had conversations with his industry, with tech companies and the Cisco’s of the world about the possibility of agreeing to a prohibition on paid prioritization with a limited exception for specialized services that do not travel on the public internet, though he said that was not an official Comcast proposal. He pointed out that such specialized services were allowed in the Federal Communications Commission's 2010 Network Neutrality Order, and at least a form of which made into FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's 2015 order, which the Ajit Pai FCC voted last December to, in effect, repeal. He said there has been a recognition that "something might come along that is not anticompetitive, that is pro-consumer, and that is a specialized service not available to every user of the internet that would be in the public interest."


Comcast's Cohen Sees Way To 'Yes' on Paid Prioritization Compromise