Merger spree by phone carriers poses threat to net neutrality

[Commentary] Big phone companies are swallowing up video partners. How long until subscribers get “free TV” data offers? Will this upset network neutrality? In February, the Federal Communications Commission ruled that Internet providers can’t use throttling, paid prioritization, or other tactics to favor some websites over others. The ruling affirmed the idea of “net neutrality,” but soon that principle could be tested as the result of a recent trend: phone carriers acquiring TV and content companies. None of these proposed mergers—specifically AT&T-DirectTV, Verizon-AOL, and T-Mobile-Dish -- are final for now. But if they go through, it likely won’t be long until the combined companies begin to explore internet plans that undercut net neutrality with offers of “free” data for certain types of web video.

Indeed, there’s already a precedent for such offers: T-Mobile’s “Music Freedom” plan lets subscribers stream songs without regard to their paid data caps. Will we soon see the same for TV? Using their sway over data pricing, carriers could prod subscribers into various video “walled gardens” and away from the open Internet. The real question is whether the carriers and the FCC see it this way too. At the agency’s epic February vote, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler deflected questions about whether T-Mobile’s “Music Freedom” is a net neutrality violation, and suggested the question would be considered later under the agency’s “general conduct” rules.