Insisting it's not a net neutrality group, mobile coalition pushes for broader rules

A new association has formed to push for regulations on mobile broadband providers. 

The Mobile Internet Content Coalition (MICC) is pushing for "fair competition and unencumbered access" for content on the wireless Internet. 

The group has begun talking with the Federal Communications Commission, including in introductory meetings with the chairman and commissioner staffs. 

The group may push for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to extend all of its net-neutrality regulations to wireless connections, according to MICC executive director Amanda Antico-Majkowski. It is still sorting out its legislative and regulatory agenda. 

Still, Antico-Majkowski insists that MICC is not a "net neutrality" group. 

"We don't want to take a position on net neutrality because it has become such a political fight and a lot of people don't understand what that is," she said. "But we share the same principles." 

MICC formed in January, weeks after the FCC passed open Internet regulations that apply more stringently to wired connections than wireless. 

Antico-Majkowski said she is focused on building membership, looking at companies who depend on transferring content to cell phones. Ideally, she wants to attract such companies as NetFlix and small publishing houses. 

As for the Googles, AOLs, Amazons, and Facebooks of the world: "When we're ready for them, we'll go for them."

MICC gets counsel from the law firm Arent Fox. Members currently include Myxer, which provides free media content for mobile phones, as well as two mobile messaging platforms, mobileStorm and Mobile Commons. Each company would be vulnerable if a mobile provider were to block their services.

Antico-Majkowski said she also hopes to attract non-profits by focusing on the digital divide. She emphasized the importance of mobile broadband for getting underserved populations online.