FCC likely to Avoid 'Net Neutrality' debate in AT&T-BellSouth Merger Decision

FCC LIKELY TO AVOID 'NET NEUTRALITY' DEBATE IN AT&T-BELLSOUTH MERGER DECISION
[SOURCE: San Antonio Express-News, AUTHOR: Sanford Nowlin]
As the Federal Communications Commission mulls conditions on AT&T's $83 billion merger with BellSouth, the Commission faces pressure to turn the process into a fight over network neutrality, the concept that Internet service providers like AT&T should treat all traffic the same. It's pressure, experts add, that the FCC is likely to resist. Analysts said they would be surprised if the FCC deviates too far from the conditions AT&T has already offered up -- especially into territory as controversial as net neutrality. So far, the Justice Department and 18 states have approved the transaction, making the FCC its last regulatory hurdle to clear. "I think pretty much what AT&T proposed will be accepted," said Patrick Comack, telecom analyst for Zachary Investment Research in Miami. "The Democrats on the FCC want to show they won something for consumers, but they aren't going to end up pushing AT&T around too much, especially on net neutrality." While the FCC faces pressure to do something about net neutrality, analysts say the AT&T-BellSouth merger is unlikely to be the forum where it chooses to do so. Congress debated net neutrality this year amid heavy lobbying from the telecom and tech industries but never brought legislation to a floor vote. "The FCC is not going to set policy for a whole industry based on concessions on one merger," Frost Bank analyst Le Keough said.
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