Free Press Pushes FCC to Put Net Neutrality Conditions on CenturyLink-Qwest Deal
The FCC should impose net neutrality conditions on the CenturyLink-Qwest deal, Free Press said in meetings with commission staff. In an ex parte notice published Friday, the group that supports such rules said it also asked the commission to require the merged company to forgo Universal Service Fund support for broadband projects. “We noted that the merging parties are making, and will be held to buildout requirements as a condition of the merger and that the combined entity should not expect to use USF monies to meet these commitments,” Free Press Policy Counsel Aparna Sridhar wrote in the notice.
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The companies “have repeatedly justified the transaction by noting the supposed ’synergies’ and increased efficiencies that the transaction would bring,” Free Press said, and “this at a minimum means the combined entity’s draw from the USF should not increase and should in fact continue to decrease.” Free Press joins Charter Communications in urging the commission to require a ramp-down of USF subsidies for Qwest’s purchase by CenturyLink (CD Feb 2 p11). Qwest spokesman Tom McMahon said by e-mail that “we believe the record that we have presented to the Commission shows the merger between CenturyLink and Qwest is in the public interest."
Free Press urged Commissioner Michael Copps to push for net neutrality requirements similar to those on Comcast’s purchase of control in NBC Universal. “Such a condition is necessary because both Qwest and CenturyLink expressed skepticism and opposition to the open Internet framework adopted by the commission in December,” Sridhar wrote. In a Jan. 24 letter to Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Colo., also published Friday, Genachowski repeated earlier hints that the commission will impose broadband conditions before signing off on CenturyLink’s acquisition.
Four states are still reviewing the proposed deal. Paetec, a CLEC, has mounted a campaign to require the merged company to continue using Qwest’s operating system for at least three years, claiming that Paetec and Qwest have become “e-bonded.” Last month, Paetec made its case to Minnesota regulators, who have delayed a vote until next month. “We've gotten a pretty good audience on that,” Paetec Vice President Bill Haas said. “If the system doesn’t offer the same functionality, then competition is harmed. We think that’s a very significant issue that hasn’t been resolved yet.”