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Posted July 15, 2010 • 5 comments

Since the FCC released its Notice of Inquiry (NOI) on the regulatory classification of broadband Internet access services, we’ve spent some time explaining why Title II is a bad idea for achieving the goals of the National Broadband Plan – the investment, innovation, and market certainty needed for job creation. Today, our filing at the…

Posted July 13, 2010 • 1 comment

Authored by Kimberly Darrin, AT&T Director of Public Policy I grew up in the ‘80s asking, “Where’s the beef?”.  It’s probably not much of a surprise then that fast food is top on my list when I stop to consider what other industries have been as creative in appealing to the needs and wants of…

Posted July 7, 2010

Justice Scalia’s dissents are often described as “witty,” “erudite,” and even “brilliant.” In fact, they are so good that they’ve been collected into a book that gets almost all 5-star reviews on Amazon. Dissenting opinions sometimes do become the basis for a change of direction by the Court, but I’m pretty sure that no Federal…

Posted July 2, 2010 • 2 comments

The other day FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn challenged participants in the debate over net neutrality and reclassification to cool down their rhetoric.  The same day, Free Press launched a website accusing telecom and cable companies of “corruption.”  This has followed weeks of screeching rhetoric accusing the FCC Chairman of essentially the same thing – simply…

Posted July 2, 2010

I was struck over the last several days by a series of pronouncements coming out of the Commission. First, on Tuesday, June 22, the FCC released an Order denying Qwest’s request for forbearance from wholesale and retail regulations in the Phoenix MSA.  Then, on Friday, June 25, the Commission released the latest version of its…

Posted June 29, 2010

In the movie Field of Dreams, Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) hears a voice tell him, “If you build it he will come.” What does this have to do with telecom policy you ask? Everything. Carriers build communications infrastructure in much the same way – without the whispering voices at night of course. Facilities-based providers are…

Posted June 28, 2010

Today’s Presidential Memorandum on spectrum policy, and the public comments of the President’s top economic advisor, are both encouraging and timely. At AT&T, we are already dealing with phenomenal increases in mobile broadband use — a whopping 5,000 percent over the last three years. However, the potential of wireless broadband to drive innovation and connect…

Posted June 28, 2010

“To define is to limit.” Or so said Oscar Wilde in The Picture of Dorian Gray.   When it comes to regulating the Internet, however, the FCC is apparently unwilling to define its regulatory limits. In its “Third Way” NOI, the FCC did not define the Internet transmission service (what it dubs “Internet Connectivity Service”)…

Posted June 24, 2010

The problem with the Open Internet fight generally and the Title II fiasco specifically is that fiction tends to trump facts in the debate.  It’s understandable.  It’s easier sometimes to understand and write about the vague and empty rhetoric than it is to unpack the facts and legal framework that lie at the heart of…

Posted June 24, 2010

In the FCC’s 14th Annual Wireless Competition Report, the Commission spends a lot of time discussing investment. It also delves into profits. Now, before your eyes glaze over, stick with me on this. I’ll try to be brief. The Commission analyzes capital investment and concludes that it is “robust” but “declining relative to industry size.”…