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We also determined that the Commission had
“adequately supported and explained its conclusion that,
absent rules such as those set forth in the [2010 Open Internet
Order], broadband providers represent[ed] a threat to Internet
openness and could act in ways that would ultimately inhibit
the speed and extent of future broadband deployment.” Id. at
645. For example, the Commission noted that “broadband
providers like AT & T and Time Warner have acknowledged
that online video aggregators such as Netflix and Hulu
compete directly with their own core video subscription
service,” id. (internal quotation marks omitted), and that, even
absent direct competition, “[b]roadband providers . . . have
powerful incentives to accept fees from edge providers, either
in return for excluding their competitors or for granting them
prioritized access to end users,” id. at 645–46. Importantly,
moreover, the Commission found that “broadband providers
have the technical . . . ability to impose such restrictions,”
noting that there was “little dispute that broadband providers
have the technological ability to distinguish between and
discriminate against certain types of Internet traffic.” Id. at
646. The Commission also “convincingly detailed how
broadband providers’ [gatekeeper] position in the market
gives them the economic power to restrict edge-provider
traffic and charge for the services they furnish edge
providers.” Id. Although the providers’ gatekeeper position
would have brought them little benefit if end users could have
easily switched providers, “we [saw] no basis for questioning
the Commission’s conclusion that end users [were] unlikely to
react in this fashion.”
Id.
The Commission
“detailed . . . thoroughly . . . the costs of switching,” and
found that “many end users may have no option to switch, or
at least face very limited options.” Id. at 647.
Finally, we explained that although some record evidence
supported Verizon’s insistence that the order would have a
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