AT&T halts its fiber expansion until the net neutrality debate is resolved

AT&T has halted the expansion of new high-speed internet connections in 100 cities in the United States until the ongoing net neutrality debate is resolved. According to Ars Technica, Randall Stephenson, the CEO of the American telecommunications giant, announced that investments in fiber networks will “pause” until the FCC makes a decision on net neutrality.

“We can’t go out and invest that kind of money deploying fiber to 100 cities not knowing under what rules those investments will be governed,” Stephenson told investors at a Wells Fargo event, as quoted by Reuters. “We think it is prudent to just pause and make sure we have line of sight and understanding as to what those rules would look like.”

These remarks come just two days after President Barack Obama called for regulations on internet service providers to be put in place so that they’re required to treat all content equally. The president asked the Federal Communications Commission to consider such rules, but FCC chairman Tom Wheeler is pushing for a much lighter approach.

“We are now starting infrastructure projects that we don’t have any clarity or line of sight in terms of what rules those will be governed under,” said Stephenson at an investor conference in New York Wednesday, as quoted by Bloomberg. “We have to pause, we have to just put a stop on those kind of investments we are doing today.”