AT&T and Verizon try to fend off net neutrality case before Trump takes over

AT&T and Verizon on Dec 16 urged the Federal Communications Commission to drop a network neutrality investigation into the companies' practice of exempting their own video from mobile data caps while charging competitors for the same exemptions. The wireless carriers have a good chance of avoiding any punishment because the FCC next month will switch to Republican control under President-elect Donald Trump, an opponent of net neutrality rules. For now, the companies are cooperating in the case, with each carrier sending replies to the FCC by the commission's deadline. AT&T lets its subsidiary DirecTV stream video without counting against AT&T mobile customers' data caps, while Verizon's Go90 video service doesn't count against data caps on the Verizon Wireless network. Other video providers must pay AT&T or Verizon to get the same data cap exemptions, also known as "zero-rating."