Bad news for AT&T and Comcast: Calif. Senate panel OKs net neutrality bill

Enlarge / California State Capitol building in Sacramento. (credit: Getty Images | joe chan photography)

The strongest state net neutrality bill in the nation passed a key test yesterday when a California Senate committee approved it over the objections of AT&T and the cable lobby. AT&T claimed that the rules aren't needed because it already follows its own net neutrality guidelines, while a cable lobbyist told senators that large corporate users shouldn't get "free access" to consumer broadband networks.

The California legislation would replicate the US-wide bans on blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization that were implemented by the FCC in 2015, and it would go beyond the FCC rules with a ban on paid data-cap exemptions. The FCC passed its rules under Democratic leadership but voted to eliminate them after Republican Ajit Pai took over the chairmanship.

AT&T and a cable lobby group spoke out against the California bill at a hearing of the state Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee yesterday. But lawmakers were unswayed by the industry lobbyists and voted 8-3 to move the bill forward. The eight ayes came from Democrats and the three noes came from Republicans.

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