Internet lobby would opt for political fight over new data costs

Internet companies that stream their content to mobile devices would be likely to seek government intervention to avoid potentially burdensome new costs imposed by a wireless billing plan under consideration by AT&T, sources at an apps company and watchdog groups told dealReporter.

A top AT&T executive reportedly floated a plan this week to allow application and content companies to pay the mobile data costs currently charged to AT&T customers. But the internet sector, an increasingly powerful political lobby, would likely fight this plan in Washington before welcoming a new charge for customers’ data use, according to industry sources and analysts.

“You will probably see a cross-section of companies with mutual interests -- particularly the companies that host a lot of video -- begin to raise concern. Google, Facebook, Netflix -- anyone hosting video should be concerned,” a representative for an apps company said. Internet companies are “facing a choice,” the same source said. “Either get the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to clarify that you don’t have to pay, or agree to pay tens of millions of dollars. The initial reaction will probably be the one you’d suspect.”