Tech giants back US congressional vote to support net neutrality

Internet companies say that without net neutrality protection, many Americans will have little recourse Technology companies including Alphabet Inc and Facebook Inc on 8 February threw their weight behind a congressional bid to reverse the Trump administration’s plan to repeal Obama-era rules designed to protect an open internet. “The time has come for a bipartisan effort to establish permanent net neutrality rules.” A public backlash against the FCC’s plan, especially among younger people, has raised concerns among some politicians about how the issue might play out in the 2018 congressional elections. More than 20 US state attorneys general are also mounting a legal challenge of the FCC’s vote to reverse the rules introduced in 2015 that prevent internet providers, such as AT&T Inc and Comcast Corp, from obstructing information they transmit to customers or offering paid fast lanes, also known as paid prioritisation. The letter on 8 February said that “more than half of all Americans have no choice in their provider, and 87 percent of rural Americans have no choice.” USTelecom, which represents AT&T, Verizon Communications Inc and other phone companies, said “we couldn’t agree more that Congress needs to engage on to craft a bill that addresses the key issues, includes all players in the ecosystem and finally resolves the disruptive policy back and forth.”