Gloves off, telecom giants to FCC: It's on!

Soon after the Federal Communications Commission released its national broadband plan a few weeks ago, the nation's biggest telecom companies began a battle against specific measures and questioned the agency's ability to regulate broadband services.

Verizon Wireless and AT&T sent petitions last week to the agency, protesting a condition to a satellite broadband merger that would exclude them from partnering up with the new company. The condition isn't part of the national broadband plan, but some communications policy experts say the requirement was a signal of similar policies to come. The move could signal, for example, spectrum caps or other rules attached to spectrum auctions and the formation of a public safety network that would exclude the biggest players in favor of smaller competitors.

Rebecca Arbogast, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus, said those comments were meant to counter any move by the agency to classify broadband as a common carrier service, under which the FCC has clear authority. Comcast, the nation's biggest cable and broadband services company, hasn't weighed in on reclassification or specific elements of the national broadband plan. The company, whose lawsuit against the FCC began the debate over the agency's jurisdiction, is seeking FCC approval for its merger with NBC Universal. "The biggest caveats and concerns for the Bells would be if the FCC, in response to court review, moves to reclassify broadband as a more heavily regulated Title II telecom services, and/or crafts strict net neutrality rules," Arbogast wrote in a research note. "The significance of these fundamental issues were reflected in Verizon's strategic decision to call on Congress to revise the central foundation of the Communications Act." The comments also signal a change in tone, observers said. Aside from protests of a net neutrality policy proposal last fall, analysts and telecom attorneys said the top telecom and cable companies had been reluctant to criticize FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.