A look at how Network Neutrality could affect Comcast-NBCU merger

Observers say the merger between Comcast and NBC Universal could be a vehicle for Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski to carry out his network neutrality ambitions.

But it would be unfair, according to a company executive, if Comcast was singled out as the only broadband service provider to have to abide by net neutrality rules. That's the dilemma for Comcast, which has in the past opposed new industry-wide net neutrality rules but now believes that if there are rules, everyone should be covered by them. "You can't protect the Internet with conditions on a company with 20 percent of the market and leave the 80 percent of the rest of the market alone," the executive said in a recent interview. That official spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing federal reviews of Comcast's merger.

The FCC imposed net neutrality conditions on AT&T and Bell South's union in 2006 and other mergers. But the Comcast executive pointed out that those conditions were enforceable rules on existing Internet access guidelines at the FCC. For the agency to impose additional rules that prevent discrimination of traffic on networks would be "inappropriate," the official said.