Verizon and AT&T statement regarding France's attempt to regulate Internet peering and transit agreements

On June 21, 2012, Verizon and AT&T each filed a complaint with France's highest administrative court, the Conseil d'Etat, to ask for annulment of a new regulation that requires operators to provide the French regulatory authority ARCEP with detailed semi-annual reports on their wholesale Internet traffic practices.

This filing is based on the global policy premise that regulatory restraint is appropriate for any competitive market, and this includes Internet services. Under a philosophy of regulatory restraint, the Internet has grown rapidly and enabled unprecedented economic and social productivity, When any regulator considers imposing regulation to the Internet, no matter how light the touch and no matter what the intention, it is appropriate to challenge whether the regulation is necessary, appropriate and lawful. Because even light regulation can lead to unintended consequences that distort market behavior, we challenge this globally unprecedented regulation by ARCEP. Verizon and AT&T can demonstrate that the new reporting obligations violate the deregulatory principles of the European regulatory framework, and are unjustified in light of the competitive nature of the Internet wholesale market.