Internet Rules Shouldn?t Apply to Wireless, Trade Group Says

By Todd Shields
Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Communications Commission shouldn?t apply rules for an open Internet to wireless services, a trade group representing AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless and other mobile-telephone companies said.

The wireless marketplace ?is working for consumers and regulation is not needed,? Steve Largent, chief executive officer of CTIA-The Wireless Association, said in an e-mailed statement.
The FCC set today as the deadline for comments on whether to forbid AT&T, Verizon, Comcast Corp. and other companies that own Internet connections from favoring their own programming and services. So-called net neutrality would help safeguard a ?free and open Internet,? FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, a Democrat, said when he proposed the regulations Sept. 21.

CTIA-The Wireless Association, based in Washington, planned to file comments today saying net neutrality rules would lead to unintended consequences, according to its news release.
A separate trade group in Washington representing companies including Google Inc., EBay Inc. and Microsoft Corp., is supporting the proposed regulations.
Forbidding discrimination against content is ?necessary and appropriate,? the Computer & Communications Industry Association said in comments filed to the FCC yesterday.

Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T have said new restrictions aren?t necessary and may hinder their ability to manage congestion on networks. Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen in a corporate blog posting on Jan. 11 said his company questioned whether the record being assembled by the FCC will show a need for new rules.

?Competition and consumer demand will ensure that the Internet remain open,? Cohen said in the blog posting.