Net Neutrality Messier Than Health Care Who Knew?
The uproar over net neutrality has grown “arguably messier than the healthcare debate in Washington.”
Yes, it’s a bold statement to make, but Jeffrey Silva, senior policy director for investment bank Medley Global Advisor’s telecom, media and technology arm, is on to something. The “he said, she said” arguments have boiled over as the industry waits for the FCC to release its proposed policies “to preserve an open Internet.”
Telcos and cable operators are hammering away with their arguments (or, threats?) that net-neutrality rules will stifle their technology innovation and network investment – and, therefore, job creation. At the same time, proponents continue to barrage policymakers in support of the regulatory oversight they say will keep the incumbents from enforcing pricing tiers and determining delivery speeds of certain content. Yet, alongside all of the industry voices, there’s dissent among leaders of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s own Democratic party. Taken all together, the tug-of-war promises to change the trajectory and timeline of any net neutrality regulation.
FCC Facing ‘Stiff Political Headwinds’
Regardless, the FCC on Thursday will present the net neutrality guidelines it hopes to enshrine as law. And it’s almost a sure thing that proceedings will drag out well into 2010, and even beyond, Silva said. There are so many sticking points to consider, not the least of which is how much oversight the FCC legally can maintain over the World Wide Web.
What will the outcome be? The communications industry knows it’s in store for some kind of net neutrality regulation – it’s just a question of how strict. Opponents are likely hoping to water down proposed oversight, since they know they’re not likely to kill it. Whatever rules emerge, net-neutrality adversaries are going to want them to be “relatively weak or harmless,” Silva said.
The FCC may be willing to concede some points, especially since it has “fertile ground for political horse-trading,” wrote Silva. What he meant was, reforms are coming to the Universal Service Fund, and to the intercarrier compensation and special access regimes. Meanwhile, AT&T Inc.(T) and Verizon Communications Inc.(VZ), more than their peers, could give up aspects of the net-neutrality fight to get more of their way on the other programs, which pump millions of dollars into their coffers.
But the agency is going to face “increasingly stiff political headwinds,” as Silva put it.
Of particular focus will be the wireless side of the debate. As spectrum requirements and wireless data demand both balloon, the mobile Internet is even more integral to the Internet ecosystem, FCC officials have said in various forums. That’s why the agency wants to make sure it stays ahead of the issue, instead of having to come back if and when neutrality violations cause problems in the mobile arena.
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