major marco
Res Firma Mitescere Nescit
Premium
join:2003-02-13
Stepford, CA
clubs:
2 edits | Hogwash
While AT&T did offer some additional concessions to squeeze through the AT&T BellSouth merger, Kevin Webach (via Techdirt) points out that the post-merger statements by Republican commissioners hint that they may not require the company to actually adhere to them. According to the statement, Tate and Martin believe that "while the Democrat Commissioners may have extracted concessions from AT&T, they in no way bind future Commission action. Thus, to the extent that AT&T has, as a business matter, determined to take certain actions, they are allowed to do so."
Which is a load of bullshit because of the letter of commitment the telco filed with the FCC wherein it promises to to observe Net Neutrality principles for at least 30 months thereafter the Merging Closing Date.
According to AT&T's letter, the merged company:
"… commits that it will maintain a neutral network and neutral routing in its wireline broadband Internet access service. This commitment shall be satisfied by AT&T/BellSouth's agreement not to provide or to sell to Internet content, application, or service providers, including those affiliated with AT&T/BellSouth, any service that privileges, degrades or prioritizes any packet transmitted over AT&T/BellSouth's wireline broadband Internet access service based on its source, ownership or destination."
Whatever fantasyland Tate & Martin are living in, they cannot simply ignore the stipulations spelled out in the 20 pg concession letter they filed with the FCC as a condition for approval.
Addendum
Consumer effects of AT&T/BellSouth Merger
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The Toll
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calvoiper
join:2003-03-31
Belvedere Tiburon, CA
| Sure they can.
They are ignoring many requirements of TA'96, some of them explicitly through "forebearance" and some of them implicitly, so ignoring some "commitment" that Ed Whitacre had some toady write up is an easy task....
calvoiper
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VoIP--the death knell of remaining voice monopolies! |
