Charter backs off push to get FCC data cap rules lifted early

Charter is backing off from its push to have the FCC provide it with early relief on data cap restrictions put in place after the provider bought Time Warner Cable.

On Friday, Charter officially withdrew its petition after last year asking the FCC to sunset two merger conditions surrounding data caps and settlement-free interconnection by May 2021 – the company was originally meant to be under the conditions until 2023.

INCOMPAS, the internet and competitive networks association, had opposed the petition and cheered Charter’s decision.

“The withdrawal of the Charter data caps petition is good news for consumers and open internet advocates. Pressure from Congress, consumer groups and small business leaders helped walk back the cable giant, but it’s a clear sign for why we need strong interconnection and open internet policy on the books to prevent these attempts to raise prices and inflate consumers’ bills,” said INCOMPAS CEO Chip Pickering in a statement.

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Roku also opposed the petition and warned that allowing Charter to impose data caps and interconnection fees would have adverse effects on streaming video.

“As more Americans stream more content, and especially more high-definition content, broadband providers have the power to interfere with consumer demand by artificially capping the amount of bandwidth available. Data caps, along with a variety of other tools, remain an avenue for anti-competitive conduct by broadband providers while there is insufficient competition to constrain anti-competitive behavior,” the company said in a filing.

Charter accepted the conditions in 2016 when the FCC signed off on the company’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Bright House. However, in a filing last year, it argued that online video distributors have flourished in recent years despite Charter’s peers being allowed to institute data caps and interconnection agreements.

“With no such Interconnection Condition imposed upon them, broadband providers other than Charter have voluntarily entered into interconnection agreements with OVDs in ways that have not inhibited OVD growth in any way; quite the opposite,” wrote Charter.