June 19, 2010 by William Peebles
United States governing body, The Federal Communications Commission, has initiated steps to tighten control of the broadband industry. The FCC recently undertook research with internet users, asking people to comment on three different broadband supply packages.
The research sparked debate, and many people have begun campaigning in an effort to alter the course of broadband provision in the US, following a recent court ruling questioning the FCC’s right to regulate internet service providers.
The FCC currently has a broadband plan named ‘net neutrality’, which demands that all data traffic be treated equally. They are putting forward a proposal to reclassify broadband from being a lightly regulated service to one with more vigorous controls. The two other options suggest keeping the existing broadband governing framework, or imposing stricter regulations on service provision.
The net neutrality proposal does not cover pricing of broadband, nor would it be responsible for overseeing content online, applications, services or e-commerce sites. The proposal has already caused a flurry of anger from ISPs including Comcast, AT&T and Verizon, who would prefer broadband governance to remain as it is.
“This is impossible to justify on either a policy or legal basis and we remain confident that if the FCC persists in its course – and we truly hope it does not – the courts will surely overturn their action,” said Jim Cicconi, AT&T’s senior executive vice president for external and legislative affairs.
Conversely, Google and Amazon are supporting the idea of net neutrality, suggesting that the broadband infrastructure should be tightly governed. The FCC looks almost certain to adopt this new legislation for broadband, which will likely provoke further antagonism, lobbying and legal challenges.
A research paper released ahead of the FCC vote warned that net neutrality rules could cost hundreds of thousands of jobs in the USA, as even a 10% reduction in investment by broadband providers would cost more than 500,000 jobs before 2015.
Related posts:
