Companies want net neutrality as part of AT&T merger

Companies like Dish and Cogent Communications want AT&T to follow network neutrality rules as a condition of its proposed merger with DirecTV, regardless of whether the new regulations are struck down in court. The companies, as well as a trio of public interest groups, outlined a host of conditions they want imposed on the proposed $48 billion AT&T deal in meetings with Federal Communications Commission staff, according to recently published disclosure filings. The groups -- including Free Press, Public Knowledge and New America's Open Technology Institute -- asked that AT&T adhere to the new net neutrality framework for seven years after the deal goes through. That would be a tough sell for AT&T, which has fiercely opposed the new rules, and has filed a stand-alone lawsuit against them.

The company, along with half a dozen other groups, has also asked the courts to delay the rules until there's a final decision on their legality. The net neutrality request was cited in a single paragraph at the end of an eight-page filing. The groups spent the majority of the filing asking for conditions on interconnection deals and requesting that AT&T be forced to offer stand-alone Internet service. To reduce the incentive for harm, the groups want AT&T to offer stand-alone Internet service for a reasonable price and to advertise it prominently in their promotional and advertising material, rather than just pushing its bundled deals. They also demanded that AT&T not exempt any of its own video service from its data caps. The groups also asked for specific interconnection terms, limiting the charges AT&T can impose and requiring that it relieve congestion when Internet traffic backs up. Netflix has also asked for the FCC to impose interconnection conditions if the merger goes through.