FCC Ready To Step In On
AT&T's Sponsored Data Plan
By Cameron Fuller
on January 10 2014 1:25 PM
Like a toddler with a pet dog, AT&T (NYSE:T) has a history of poking the Federal Communications Commission until it turns around and
barks. And that’s just what it’s done now. "Make no mistake, we’re ready
to intervene,” said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler.
The reason: AT&T is on thin ice with the FCC over a recently announced data
program, Sponsored Data.
AT&T announced the new plan Monday
that will change the way customers are charged for data. In-app data, like
clicking on a link a friend posted on Facebook, will be billed to the company,
not the consumer. “Similar to 1-800 phone numbers or free shipping for Internet
commerce, AT&T’s new ‘Sponsored Data’ service opens up new data use options
for AT&T wireless customers and customer-friendly mobile broadband channels
to businesses that choose to participate as sponsors,” said AT&T.
Sponsoring data has several different
potential uses. It allows companies to categorize data as personal or
work-related, allowing employees to use their own devices or to save money with
issued devices by determining what data was business-related. It also allows
companies to encourage customers to use their apps instead of others', which
has some policymakers calling the move a step away from net neutrality.
Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., jeered at the
new program, saying, “the announcement of a sponsored data program by AT&T
puts it in the business of picking winners and losers on the Internet,
threatening the open Internet, competition and consumer choice.” Eshoo, who
represents much of Silicon Valley, is a
ranking member of the House Commerce subcommittee on communications. “It’s
exactly why net neutrality rules came to exist in the first place and why these
rules should apply equally to all forms of broadband Internet service,” she said.
That’s where Wheeler of the FCC draws the
line. “We want to encourage innovation, with the full capability and legal
authority to intervene in those circumstances where there are untoward impacts
on competition and consumers,” he said. While he has made no moves yet to block
the new plan, Wheeler is prepared to step in if needed, which isn’t right now.
“As content consumption has evolved from
analog to digital, so have the ways for companies to reach consumers,” said
Andy Geisse, CEO, AT&T Business Solutions.
“The Sponsored Data model is just one way we’re helping companies tap
into our network to offer differentiated experiences and transform the way they
do business.”
Federal Communications Commission
(FCC)
Amy L.
Nathan is the senior counsel, strategic planning & policy analysis for
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC),
and was an attorney at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer
& Feld, LLP.
Note: Kathleen Q.
Abernathy was the commissioner for the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC), and a partner at Akin, Gump,
Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP.
Akin,
Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP is the lobby firm for AT&T Inc.
James W.
Cicconi was a partner at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer
& Feld, LLP, is the senior EVP for AT&T Inc.,
and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank).
Laura
D'Andrea Tyson is a director at AT&T Inc., and
was a trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank).
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is a
senior counsel for Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer
& Feld, LLP, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, a director at the American
Friends of Bilderberg (think
tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference
participant (think tank).
Valerie
B. Jarrett is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s great niece, the senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory
A-Z (Past Research)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Cyrus
F. Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank).
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank), and the Aspen Institute (think tank).
George Soros
is the chairman for the Foundation to Promote
Open Society.
James S.
Crown is a trustee at the Aspen Institute
(think tank), and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Lester Crown
is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank).
Julius
Genachowski is a senior fellow at the Aspen
Institute (think tank), and was the chairman for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Blair Levin
is a fellow at the Aspen Institute (think
tank), and was the chief of staff to the chairman for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Michael
K. Powell is a trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank), Colin L. Powell’s
son, and was the chairman for the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC).
Mark D.
Schneider was the associate general counsel for the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC), and is a partner at Sidley Austin LLP.
Newton N.
Minow was the chairman for the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC), is a senior counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
R. Eden
Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack Obama
was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP, and a Julius Genachowski was his law
school friend.
Julius
Genachowski was Barack Obama’s law
school friend, the chairman for the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC), and is a friend of Edward P.
Lazarus.
Edward
P. Lazarus is a friend of Julius Genachowski,
and was a partner at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer
& Feld, LLP.
Akin,
Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP is the lobby firm for AT&T Inc.
Kathleen
Q. Abernathy was a partner at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer
& Feld, LLP, and the commissioner for the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC).
Amy L.
Nathan was an attorney at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer
& Feld, LLP, and is the senior counsel, strategic planning &
policy analysis for the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC).
Thomas
E. Wheeler is the chairman for the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC), and a director at EarthLink,
Inc.
Robert
Kavner was the chairman for EarthLink, Inc.,
and a group CEO for AT&T Inc.
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