Net neutrality has been key to Internet and telecom startups, said EarthLink CEO Joe Eazor and AngelList Chief Operating Officer Kevin Laws at the Sunday opening session of ComptelPlus in San Francisco. “It's hard to overstate the importance,” Eazor said, responding to a question about net neutrality and “interconnection at the edge” from moderator Chip Pickering, Comptel president (the group changed its name to Incompas Monday). Laws said net neutrality has been critical for most of the startups on AngelList, which helps new companies obtain seed money from “angel investors.” Laws said one of his startups is constantly opening new stores, all of which need Internet connections: “The open Internet is essential for our customers to serve their customers better.” Pickering lauded the FCC net neutrality and IP/tech transition orders, which he said were part of a competition agenda that Comptel wants to sustain and strengthen. He welcomed agency efforts to address concerns about Bell rates and practices in special-access business services, including the investigation the Wireline Bureau announced Friday into terms and conditions that rivals say “lock up” competition (see 1510160060). Pickering said he's hopeful the commission will act on special access within six to 12 months. Eazor said EarthLink is riding a new wave of Internet growth that he said tripled IP traffic over the past four years and is expected to triple it again during the next three years. EarthLink is in various lines of business, but its core is managing “network services,” often in the cloud, including to retailers with diffuse locations, he said. Laws said AngelList already has helped various startups, including Pinterest and Uber, gain access to more than $200 million in initial funding.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Comptel renamed itself Incompas Monday, as it seeks to expand its reach and membership across communications sectors. Promoting competition remains its top focus, said CEO Chip Pickering at the group's Comptel Plus conference (which kept its name for this year). FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said there that advancing competition is central to the agency's mission and she repeated support for Internet openness and USF Lifeline and E-rate broadband moves. Pickering and Incompas members urged the commission to complete its special-access review and address Bell business service rates and practices the competitors believe are anticompetitive.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Comptel renamed itself Incompas Monday, as it seeks to expand its reach and membership across communications sectors. Promoting competition remains its top focus, said CEO Chip Pickering at the group's Comptel Plus conference (which kept its name for this year). FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said there that advancing competition is central to the agency's mission and she repeated support for Internet openness and USF Lifeline and E-rate broadband moves. Pickering and Incompas members urged the commission to complete its special-access review and address Bell business service rates and practices the competitors believe are anticompetitive.