Verizon Challenges Applying Net Neutrality Two Wireless (NewsFactor published)

Verizon Communications announced Thursday that it has filed a legal challenge to the Net-neutrality plan adopted by the Federal Communications Commission. The company said it is "deeply concerned by the FCC's assertion of broad authority for sweeping new regulation of broadband networks and the Internet itself."

Approved last month, the FCC plan requires network providers to treat all content the same, without favoring some kinds of content which could, for example, compete with the provider's own offerings. Despite the legal move, the company said it is still "committed to preserving an open Internet," adding that it has worked extensively with "all players in the Internet and communications space to shape policies that ensure an open Internet."

Same Court as Comcast Ruling

Verizon's suit was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. This is the same court that ruled last spring against the FCC order that Comcast refrain from blocking a file-sharing application that could offer movies competing with Comcast's. At the time, the court said the FCC didn't have the authority it cited, and the recently approved Net-neutrality plan was intended, at least in part, to address that ruling.

Verizon's argument in its lawsuit similarly rests on the idea that the FCC doesn't have the authority. Michael E. Glover, the company's senior vice president and deputy general counsel, told news media that the FCC's "assertion of authority goes well beyond any authority provided by Congress." In fact, Verizon has asked for the same panel of judges that decided the Comcast case.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has said that he expected one or more court challenges, and that the Telecommunications Act of 1996 gave the FCC the authority to carry out the new plan.

The FCC's argument for its legal authority appears to rest on instructions in the 1996 law that the FCC should expand broadband Internet, should make sure the public has access to Net-delivered media and communications, and should ensure that wireless networks are used for the benefit of the public.

Not Enough 'To Appease'

A key question is what Verizon's position actually is on Net neutrality. Some observers have noted that the FCC's new plan, which has been criticized by consumer groups and neutrality advocates as too weak, is similar in some respects to the proposal that Verizon and Google jointly offered last the summer.

On the surface, many of the approaches of the FCC plan, and those in the proposal offered by Verizon/Google, seem similar. One difference is that the FCC's plan will prevent wireless providers from blocking access to sites or services that compete with the providers' own, while the Google/Verizon proposal doesn't explicitly do so.

Free Press counsel Aparna Sridhar said Verizon's lawsuit "demonstrates that even the most weak and watered-down rules aren't enough to appease giant phone companies."

The wireless provision appears to be Verizon's key interest, as one might expect. Some consumer groups, including Free Press, have attacked Verizon for venue-shopping to get the most favorable court for its wireless licenses. Issues on regulations affecting wireless licenses are handled by the D.C. court, while the court that will hear lawsuits against general FCC policy is supposed to be determined by lottery.