FCC Said Close To Making Some Policy Calls on Zero Rating

Michael Calabrese was quoted in Communications Daily about the FCC's ruling on zero rating: 

The FCC appears to be close to making some decisions on zero rating. A broad group of public interest and consumer groups sent the FCC a letter Monday urging action. 

“We’ve received no signals,” said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, one of the signers of Monday’s letter. The FCC is still collecting information, he said. Consistent with the net neutrality order, Calabrese predicted the FCC would handle AT&T, Comcast, T-Mobile and Verizon cases separately. The FCC sent letters to each company asking about its zero-rated services. 

“With the D.C. Circuit decision on the open Internet order expected very soon, it seems most like­ly that the commission will hold off on enforcement until there is greater certainty about the scope of the rules,” Calabrese told us. “Even then, we expect the FCC to take up these very different zero-rating programs on a case-by-case basis. The commission no doubt understands the importance of establishing some early precedents that shed some light on legal gray areas involving the order’s general conduct rule, so that ISPs have more certainty and do not become overly invested in legally unsustainable practices.”