The FCC's approval on Friday of AT&T's $84.5 billion buyout of BellSouth apparently came only after the telecom behemoth promised to maintain net neutrality and offer inexpensive web access to customers.
In a letter to the FCC, AT&T vowed to "maintain a neutral network and neutral routing in its wireline broadband internet access service" for two years, or the effective date of any Congressional legislation addressing the net neutrality issue, writes MediaPost.

And according to the Washington Post (via paidContent), in a consumer-focused strategy AT&T agreed to offer high-speed internet for $19.95 a month over the next 30 months - without requiring customers to also purchase phone service.

Net neutrality has become a hot issue since executives at some telecoms said they would like to charge certain web companies higher fees based on usage and type of traffic, or charge publishers more for faster transmission to consumers.