FCC Negotiations Intensify with Saturday Meeting Amid Push for a Deal
The private negotiations between the FCC and telecom industry stakeholders intensified this week with talks held Tuesday through Thursday, and another round planned for Saturday.
The parties could be inching toward an agreement on network neutrality regulations, or at least "smoking-out bottom line positions," according to the investment firm Stifel Nicolaus.
There is a decent chance a deal could be struck, the firm noted in a Friday report, while cautioning that many issues remain unresolved, including the timing of a possible announcement and whether or how wireless carriers should be covered by net neutrality guidelines.
The meetings are part of on-going talks between the FCC and industry to find a compromise on Internet regulation in lieu of the FCC's proposal to reclassify broadband as a telecommunications service, which would result in more regulation for service providers.
According to a source close to the situation, the parties that will meet on Saturday include Verizon, Google, AT&T, the Open Internet Coalition and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association.
Speculation about a forthcoming agreement comes amid increased concern from lawmakers about reclassification of broadband. Two more Democratic House members, Reps. Ben Chandler, D-Ky., and Alan Grayson, D-Fla., sent letters to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski recently urging him to work with Congress to find an appropriate legislative remedy for the challenges of regulating broadband.
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