---
date: 2018-11-13
draft: false
title: AT&T CEO criticizes disparate state net neutrality regulations after helping to dismantle unified, national rules
tags: ['politics', 'net neutrality']
---

**[Jon Brodkin:](https://arstechnica.com/?p=1410725)**

> "We've got a mess coming at us, literally states independently going out and designing their own privacy regulation," [Randall] Stephenson said. "How do you do business in a world where you have 50 different regulations and rules around privacy?"<!-- excerpt -->

If Stephenson was actually concerned about the impact of a fractured regulatory landscape on his company, he could have left existing net neutrality rules in place. Rather he and other telecoms elected to force through a roughshod repeal of national rules without any consideration of public opinion or possible consequences.

Any new national legislation backed by AT&T is likely to seriously disadvantage consumers and competitors and support net neutrality in name only.