ITI's Garfield: Net-neutrality talks have made 'significant progress'

Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) president Dean Garfield released a statement Tuesday saying stakeholders negotiating a net-neutrality proposal have made "significant progress" in their discussion.

He said the group is working toward reaching a "final consensus."

Any "recommendations will ultimately be judged by Congress, the FCC and the millions of people who rely on the Internet as an essential part of their lives," he added.

The statement comes after analysts at Stifel Nicolaus issued a note stating the negotiating parties had reached a "general agreement." Negotiating parties include Skype, Microsoft, NCTA, Verizon and AT&T, among others.

Some sources have also said the talks have been complicated by scheduling during summer vacation season and disagreements remain. 

According to the analyst note, the agreement could include concessions on some of the most divisive topics in the debate, including the questions of wireless Internet, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authority and managed services. 

New concessions from wireless companies could mean the agreement is stricter than the Google-Verizon proposal issued this month, which exempts wireless traffic from the toughest rules. 

Still, it's unlikely the companies would submit to a full non-discrimination rule for wireless services, which they see as the future of their businesses and say are technically too different from wireline services to be subject to the same rule. 

Various scenarios are possible for regulating wireless without applying the full weight of a non-discrimination rule and without entirely exempting them, either; the companies, for instance, could be prohibited from blocking websites but not applications, among other possible variations. 

Here's the full statement from ITI:

“Over the past few weeks, we’ve made significant progress in our shared effort to drive continued investment and innovation across the global Internet, while protecting its openness for generations to come.

 “As we work to reach final consensus, we’re focused on solidifying what unites us, incorporating new ideas and viewpoints, and, above all, delivering a series of constructive, pro-consumer and innovation-based principles that will only strengthen the Internet as we know it today. Past precedent shows that when we work together and integrate the best ideas in a coordinated fashion, the stronger the outcome.

“When this multi-phase process is complete, we believe there will be ample common ground on which to find a meaningful and consensus-based solution. At the end of the day, any recommendations will ultimately be judged by Congress, the FCC and the millions of people who rely on the Internet as an essential part of their lives. Stated simply, this is more than enough incentive to ensure we get it right.”