Study disputes claim net neutrality hurts investment

The FCC doesn't need to create new rules, because a set of informal net neutrality principles it adopted in 2005 are working, an AT&T spokeswoman said.

The study "does validate what we've been saying all along -- the open Internet framework in place today at the FCC is working and supports an environment where investment can still occur and jobs can still be created," she added. "Special interest groups, like Free Press, are providing cover to companies like Google by urging the commission to change the functioning status quo and implement broader, overly prescriptive rules that will threaten the existing balance that has incented investments and created jobs. Such notions fly in the face of all modern experience of economics and investment."

The idea that more regulation could bring more investment, as the Free Press study suggests, is "absurd and provably false," the AT&T spokeswoman said.

But the Free Press study says there's no evidence to suggest investment will dry up. Investment in telecom networks is largely driven by other factors, including demand for bandwidth, equipment and other costs, and competition, said Derek Turner, Free Press' research director.

Investment decisions are a "complex process," he said.