Mobile phone companies oppose 'open Internet' plans

US mobile phone carriers have closed ranks to oppose government plans to impose 'open Internet' regulation on wireless services.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants to ensure that all Internet providers - whether mobile or landline - conform to the so-called 'net neutrality rules'.

This would mean they must allow access to all legal websites and cannot ban applications or slow down traffic whenever they want.

"History's lesson is clear. Ensuring a robust and open internet is the best thing we can do to promote investment and innovation," said the FCC chairman Julius Genachowski in a speech on Monday.

But unsurprisingly the mobile phone industry says that the rules shouldn't be applied to their wireless networks where bandwidth is more limited.

"We are concerned the FCC appears ready to extend the entire array of net neutrality requirements to what is perhaps the most competitive consumer market in America - wireless services," said AT&T's Jim Cicconi.

While this may seem of interest only to the US much the same debate is happening in the UK with the net neutrality advocates and the mobile phone lobbies facing off to each other. How the dice plays in the US may well influence developments across the Atlantic in the UK and EU.