The Federal Communications Commission under Chairman Tom Wheeler has come down hard on zero-rating offers from AT&T and Verizon.
The Tom Wheeler-led Federal Communications Commission is taking a final shot at AT&T and Verizon Wireless.
On Wednesday, the FCC’s wireless bureau issued a report ( PDF ) spelling out how AT&T’s DirecTV Now online video service and Verizon’s FreeBee Data 360 offer, which allow companies to pay for wireless data service that customers use, violates the agency’s open internet rules. The rules adopted in 2015 were supposed to prevent wireless and broadband providers from giving themselves an unfair advantage over their competitors.
While this puts the current version of the FCC on the record as against these programs, it ultimately may not mean much. Tom Wheeler is slated to step down, once President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in. It’s unlikely the Republican-led agency will take action.
Republican Commissioner Ajit Pai, who’s expected to succeed Wheeler as the interim chairman of the FCC come Jan. 20 until a permanent chairman is appointed, said in a statement that the current administration’s „partisan, political agendas“ will „harm investment and innovation. “
These programs fall under the broader category of „zero-rating“ services, or controversial plans that let internet service providers not count data usage for certain applications against a customer’s monthly cap.
