The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission laid out a plan on Wednesday to treat both wireless and wired data services as public utility, and this did not go down well the network operators. The notion was first endorsed 3-months ago by President Barrack Obama, but he did not get the required backing at the time.
Chairman of the commission, Tom Wheeler, claims that this new plan “assures the rights of Internet users to go where they want, when they want, and the rights of innovators to introduce new products without asking anyone’s permission.”
This is exactly what Internet users want, but it is a complete contradiction to what the network operators would have preferred. Nothing is set in stone at the moment, but from all indications, handling wireless and wired data in a similar way to utilities is where things are headed.
The rule according to a FCC official would prohibit Broadband providers from blocking users from accessing legal content or slowing down speed to some content sources, for example, Netflix and YouTube.
Basically, this means there will be no more fast lanes. It also means Netflix might not have to play the likes of Verizon and Comcast to allow its customers to access the fast lane.
Interestingly enough, the no fast lane rule will also apply to wireless services as well. We suspect the network operators will have a huge problem with this since operating a wireless network is allegedly more expensive when compared to wired.
With the FCC chairman endorsing the true form of net neutrality, many wireless carriers are on edge because it could prevent them from investing in new technologies in the future. However, we fail to believe this because it would only open the door for new competition to rise.
We’ve seen Google making a big push with its own wired network, and now the company is making plans to enter the wireless network game as well. Carriers should bear in mind that Google is a company that wants a free and neutral Internet, so these new rules play right up its alley.