The U.S. Securities and ExchangeCommission has told AT&T Inc. and other telecommunicationscompanies they must include a resolution supporting wirelessnet-neutrality in annual shareholder votes.

In a letter posted on the SEC website,the agency asserted that net neutrality — the idea that Internetservice providers must treat traffic equally — has become a“significant policy consideration” and can no longer be excludedfrom shareholder ballots. AT&T, Verizon Communications Inc. andSprint Nextel Corp. must now grant shareholder requests for votesthis year on resolutions that would support net neutrality.

“In view of the sustained public debateover the last several years concerning net neutrality and theInternet and the increasing recognition that the issue raisessignificant policy considerations, we do not believe that AT&Tmay omit the proposal from its proxy materials,” the SEC said inthe Feb. 10 letter.