Rollback of net neutrality rules would give Verizon and AT&T a huge edge in digital media

[Commentary] Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai drew applause from the wireless industry yesterday as he outlined his plan to overturn network neutrality rules adopted under his predecessor Tom Wheeler. But rolling back those rules will give the nation’s two largest carriers a huge advantage as the wireless and digital media markets collide.

The fight over net neutrality has grown more contentious in recent months in the wireless industry as carriers increasingly expand into digital media and advertising to offset slowing growth in the US mobile market. AT&T acquired DirecTV and hopes to join forces with Time Warner, for instance, while Verizon has acquired AOL and agreed to buy Yahoo. While zero-rated data is less of a factor in this era of unlimited-data plans, the undoing of net neutrality rules would still give operators opportunities to leverage their own content, placing smaller digital media companies at a disadvantage. Verizon could enable faster speeds for users willing to endure AOL ads, for instance, or AT&T could do the same for mobile users of its DirecTV Now service.