Net Neutrality (more background here)
is perhaps one of the biggest debates facing the future of the internet today. It can have wide implications on internet services for consumers, business and the ISPs. What users and businesses are using and relying on the internet for has exploded. Video, real time communication, games, information queries are just a few examples. A short description of the Net Neutrality issue boils down to the question; should all internet traffic (wired or wireless) be treated equally regardless of content, source and destination (open internet) or should internet providers be allowed to offer a fast lane or other controls over traffic priority or quality or even whether to pass/allow it at all? In the end it's all about $$$.
The End User Perspective
As an end user I want to be able to access any web site, lawful content or application I care to without restriction or having what I'm trying to access downgraded in favor of other services. I wouldn't want the internet dominated by sites or applications that are paying a premium for preferential prioritization or bandwidth. This link offers just a few examples of what the loss of the open internet could mean. Sub-standard performance, and access fees to certain types of sites or applications are the biggest fears.
That said, most if not all, ISPs today offer the consumer tiered service options. They offer the option to pay for more bandwidth on the last mile segment of the network they provide. Theoretically that bandwidth is available equally regardless of what the user is accessing with it. Wireless ISPs charge primarily by amount of data consumed regardless of what it's used for.
Applications and Services Developer Perspective
Web companies/applications (eg Netflix, Pandora, MS Skype to name a few) want to offer services, some free, some premium, over the open internet. They favor net neutrality. They don't want to pay a premium to ISPs because of the traffic they produce, to get traffic priority, or the right to be allowed/accessed through the ISP vs. be blocked by an ISP because they have a favored or competing service. If they are required to pay fees for access/use of the network odds are those fees will be passed on to the subscribers. Services we currently access for free may become fee based. Having to pay fees may make it harder for new services/companies to emerge.
The ISP Perspective
ISPs have got to keep up their infrastructure to compete with each other as well as deal with the exploding demand on the network. Innovative applications and services are developed and many more users are accessing them. This costs them $$$. These companies are looking to control or reduce their expense (tiered services) or gain revenue for the cost of the bandwidth being used/demanded by certain applications and sites. Their view is that large web service providers, generating a large amount of internet traffic, are currently profiting and not having any of the cost burden for the traffic they generate.
Will The Internet Business Model Change?
One thing appears to be certain; the costs of the internet structure are rising due to the increasing reliance we have on it for new applications and services. Net neutrality, or not, boils down to who winds up getting what piece of the pie. Appears to me that whether or not the FCC succeeds in getting net neutrality re-heard in court and getting it upheld (it currently isn't), the end users are going to wind up paying more for the pie. We will either be paying more to our ISP for access to the "neutral" internet or pay more for specific services or applications that pass their "access" fees on to us. It's a topic for all to keep an eye on.
Comments?
I'd
love to hear your thoughts, observations, concerns or predictions about the network
neutrality debate.
Michael Killian
