05 Aug 2010 - News

Verizon Communications and Google agreed a deal over how internet traffic will be treated, two people familiar with the agreement told Reuters. The deal centers on a set of net neutrality rules that determine how internet traffic moves over land lines and to wireless devices involving payment by internet companies seeking a faster traffic. Verizon will not block or slow internet traffic over land lines but could do so to mobile devices, one source said. The agreement comes among a series of closed-door meetings at the Federal Communications Commission involving the two companies, AT&T and other internet companies to set rules for the industry. One source said Verizon and Google were still trying to determine when to formally announce the deal, and how to involve US Representative Rick Boucher who has acted as a mediator to the talks. "We've been working with Google for 10 months to reach an agreement on broadband policy," Verizon spokesman David Fish said. The FCC voted in June to collect public comments on whether the agency should reclassify broadband regulation under the stricter telecom operator rules. Sources familair with the agreement told the Wall Street Journal that the Verizon and Google deal could be used as a framework for legislation codifying some of the FCC's proposals. Their agreement could be announced as soon as 6 August, the paper said. The Verizon-Google deal "is worse [for consumers] than what they are negotiating at the FCC," said Gigi Sohn, co-founder of Public Knowledge, a digital advocacy group, who was briefed on the companies' proposal.

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