Randall Stephenson on Net Neutrality
From Randall Stephenson, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, AT&T · · Boston College Chief Executives Club
“Congress needs to step up and they need to take this issue on comprehensively thou shalt not block thou shalt not throttle according to statutes written by Congress and by the way while you're at it you need to talk about privacy what what can companies do with customer data what can all companies not just ours but all companies what can they do with the customer data what are the rules of the road around privacy and customer privacy just take all of this on let's get one set of rules let's turn the industry loose let's say now that we have stability we have predictability go after it let's get after it so our position has always been one no throttling no blocking and let's get the rules right on privacy and you'll see investment flourish but a world where we're just sitting here pivoting back and forth playing ping pong with really major implications to industry I think it's just not wise for us as a country on something this important so we're pushing hard to get Congress to do something it'd be great to get a lot of things settled and Congress couldn't agree more and the data privacy one is very interesting”
On , Randall Stephenson, Former Chairman & Chief Executive Officer at AT&T, spoke about Net Neutrality during Randall Stephenson, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, AT&T on Boston College Chief Executives Club.
About Randall Stephenson
Randall Stephenson, former chairman and CEO of AT&T, has spoken publicly about the company's strategy regarding its proposed merger with Time Warner, 5G technology, and broader economic policy. In 2016 testimony before a Senate subcommittee, Stephenson argued that the merger would benefit consumers by providing more choices and lower-priced options, and he stated that AT&T would not withhold Time Warner content to disadvantage competitors. He also said that AT&T had been the largest investor in the United States for five consecutive years and that he expected that to continue. At the 2019 FinTech Ideas Festival, Stephenson discussed the potential of 5G networks, stating that the technology would enable precise location tracking of devices within centimeters, which he said could change how authentication and identity are handled in digital transactions. Stephenson has also addressed social and political issues. In a 2018 interview, he discussed a 2016 speech he gave to AT&T employees about Black Lives Matter, saying he was glad it went viral because it initiated conversations about race within the company and among other CEOs. On economic policy, he stated in 2016 that a 2% growth rate was "unacceptable" and called for tax reform and the approval of the Trans-Pacific Partnership to stimulate growth. He also noted that regulatory and tax policies had influenced AT&T's investment decisions, including its expansion into Mexico.