AT&T and Verizon have been fighting to preserve 4Mbps as the nation’s definition of “broadband,” saying the Federal Communications Commission should abandon plans to raise the minimum to 10Mbps.

The companies also argue now that the FCC should not consider data caps when deciding whether an Internet service qualifies as broadband.

Verizon does not impose any caps on its home Internet service. AT&T advertises 150GB and 250GB monthly limits with financial penalties when consumers use more than that. While AT&T sends notices to customers about heavy usage, it generally hasn’t enforced the financial penalties.

Still, the companies want the ability to charge heavy broadband users extra in the future, just as they do today with their cellular offerings. In filings with the FCC posted on the commission’s website yesterday, AT&T and Verizon object to proposals by Netflix and others that would include data caps in the FCC’s definition of broadband. The definition affects the FCC’s analysis of nationwide broadband deployment, and companies that accept Universal Service funds when building networks in rural areas must match the standard.

“Despite Netflix’s assertion that data usage thresholds should be accounted for in the Commission’s deployment benchmarks, the Commission should not utilize pricing plans in its determination of whether advanced capabilities have been deployed to all Americans,” AT&T wrote. “As an initial matter, AT&T is not aware of tiered data plans that actually limit the amount of data a customer can use. Rather, to the extent providers use tiered data plans, those plans attach different prices to different buckets of data and require that customers who exceed the allowance associated with their chosen plan to pay for their additional usage. In this respect, tiered data plans are no different from any other pricing model that relates charges to usage.”

The FCC's proposal to raise the minimum broadband definition asked the public to comment on whether the FCC should also "consider latency and data usage allowances as additional core characteristics of advanced telecommunications capability."

In response, Netflix argued that the commission’s “revised benchmark also should account for data caps and other terms of service that may restrict broadband use even when a broadband connection is technically capable of achieving minimum threshold speeds.” Consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge made similar arguments.

“Public Knowledge—whose agenda here and in other proceedings to impose heavy regulation on broadband depends on proving market failures—argues that usage-based billing may create disincentives for consumers to use broadband and for providers to invest in broadband networks, and may undermine broadband competition," Verizon wrote.

On the contrary, usage caps "encourage all users to make efficient use of finite network resources," Verizon argued. (In fact, a government survey of Internet service providers found that congestion is not a problem for wireline ISPs, but usage-based pricing can boost revenue.)

Usage-based pricing “provides a way for consumers who are not heavy users to keep their costs down” and “increases incentives to invest in broadband networks,” Verizon further wrote. “Because such pricing helps ensure a superior broadband experience for most consumers, it better enables providers to win and retain subscribers, thereby generating the revenue necessary to make broadband investments in the first place. By contrast, rate regulation, such as through restricting usage-based pricing, would suppress investment and risk undermining the goals of Section 706 [of the Telecommunications Act].”

AT&T also said the FCC should not consider latency in its broadband analysis, arguing that the commission’s “most recent Measuring Broadband America report demonstrated that latency is not a critical issue because consumers generally have access to broadband services that exceed the latency requirements necessary for VoIP.”

Comcast, which is enforcing data limits in some parts of its territory before an anticipated nationwide rollout, has not submitted comments on the FCC proceeding. But the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, of which Comcast is a member, argued that the FCC should keep its broadband definition at 4Mbps and said the commission should not set latency or usage thresholds.

A trade group representing wireless Internet service providers also objected to raising the minimum broadband definition above 4Mbps downstream and 1Mbps upstream.

The FCC filings are available under proceeding 14-126.

The Internet Association, which includes Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Google, reddit, Netflix, Twitter, Yahoo, and others, argued that data caps should be monitored because they "effectively ration consumer use of broadband." The group also urged the commission to examine restrictions that prevent certain set-top boxes from accessing online services.

"The Commission and the Department of Justice have recognized that MVPDs [multichannel video programming distributors] have a vested interest in protecting their own video services and, as a consequence, often restrict competitive set-top equipment from operating on or through their systems, while often closing to third-party applications the few devices that are operable," the group wrote. "These practices inhibit consumer uptake of third-party devices and services, which in turn limits deployment of third-party content. For example, Comcast does not allow its subscribers to access HBO Go through the popular Roku device."