DISQUS

Jon Healey · 2 years ago

Two points, in reverse order:
Two years = one Congress. This is about giving lawmakers time to adopt industry-wide rules, as opposed to singling out one network operator.
As for the distinction between AT&T;'s new TV service and the rest of its offerings, look at it from the standpoint of the consumer. If you're buying Internet access service, you're buying a pipe that doesn't prioritize -- it's the status quo ante merger. If you're buying AT&T;'s video service, you're getting something that plays by different rules, but that's what you expect. After all, this is EXACTLY what cable does. One wire carries prioritized traffic (video channels) and non-prioritized traffic (cable-modem data). The difference is the frequency at which the traffic is transmitted.