FCC looks at pacts' effect on Web speed

Probe focuses on service quality, whether deals undermine Net neutrality

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Communications Commission is looking into the relationships between content companies such as Netflix and Internet service providers such as Comcast and Verizon to see whether consumers are getting the speed and quality of service they are promised.

Tom Wheeler, the FCC chairman, said Friday that the decision to conduct the inquiry resulted in part from more than 19,000 public comments submitted to the FCC asking it to look at the agreements and how they affect Net neutrality -- the concept that Internet service providers should not favor any content over another in delivering service to Internet users.

The FCC separately is studying Net neutrality with the goal of developing new rules to police it. Two previous attempts by the FCC to do so were blocked by a federal appeals court.

Netflix recently has accused Comcast of allowing congestion on its network to interfere with Netflix's ability to deliver content to customers effectively. That led to an agreement by Netflix to pay Comcast for direct access to its network, a deal that many Net neutrality supporters said was a violation of the principle, and one that Netflix quickly turned around and called unfair.

Wheeler said that he still believed that the types of agreements between Netflix and Comcast, known as peering, are outside the scope of Net neutrality itself. But he said the commission has an obligation to see whether consumers are being given what they pay for.

"The bottom line is that consumers need to understand what is occurring when the Internet service they've paid for does not adequately deliver the content they desire, especially content they've also paid for," Wheeler said. "In this instance, it is about what happens where the ISP connects to the Internet. It's important that we know -- and that consumers know."

Wheeler said the commission is asking for information at this point, not regulating the Internet -- something that broadband providers and many members of Congress have said that the commission does not have the authority to do.

"To be clear, what we are doing right now is collecting information, not regulating," Wheeler said. "We are looking under the hood. Consumers want transparency. They want answers. And so do I."

He quoted an email sent to the agency by a person identified only as George as saying: "Is Verizon abusing net neutrality and causing Netflix picture quality to be degraded by 'throttling' transmission speeds? Who is at fault here? The consumer is the one suffering!"

Wheeler said FCC officials don't know the answers.

"Internet traffic exchange has always been handled through commercial agreements," Ed McFadden, a Verizon spokesman, said in an email. "This has worked well for the Internet ecosystem and consumers. We are hopeful that policy makers will recognize this fact."

Netflix spokesman Joris Evers said the company welcomes the FCC's efforts to bring more transparency.

"Americans deserve to get the speed and quality of Internet access they pay for," Evers said.

Information for this article was contributed by Todd Shields of Bloomberg News.

Business on 06/14/2014

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