The pleadings were a final attempt to shape upcoming net-neutrality regulations, whose broad outlines were announced by the FCC in October. Advocates say that without the rules ISPs will start monkeying with net traffic, stifling innovation. Wireless carriers and regulation foes say the market will prevent such abuses and new rules will dry up capital investment.
The FCC wants to take the current guidelines that force DSL and cable internet providers to let you use the devices, applications and web services you prefer, and apply them to all broadband connections. They also want to expand the rules to make it clear that broadband providers cant find ways to make their bundled video and phone services go faster than their competitors, and force companies to tell users how they manage their network.
Skype, the online peer-to-peer phone company, supports the new rules, which is unsurprising, because they have their share of carriers blocking the service. Skype, which has long pushed to apply the landline rules to wireless connections, sees regulations as an extension of the Carterfone ruling in the late 60s that forced AT&T to open its network to devices made by other companies. That eventually led to the answering machine, the fax machine and the modem and thus the internet itself.
Openness rules designed to ensure that consumers can use applications with and attach devices of their choosing to broadband access networks, and that such networks will be free from discrimination, will help provide applications developers and device manufacturers with the certainty needed to invest in designing new and innovative products. More importantly, consumers will have the confidence that they will be able to use devices and access content, applications, and services of their choice; that broadband access providers will not act as gatekeepers, favoring certain traffic over others; and that they will be provided sufficient information about their broadband access service to make informed choices in the broadband marketplace.
Not surprisingly, the wireless carriers see it differently and say competition, not regulation, is the way to keep the airwaves open.
Quite simply, we believe that these rules are inappropriate for wireless broadband networks and unnecessary to ensure that wireless consumers continue to enjoy the open internet, Wireless Association CEO Steve Largent said in a press release. All elements of the wireless ecosystem are flourishing. As Americans continue to adopt mobile broadband at a rapid pace, our members are investing billions of dollars every year to deliver wireless internet across the country. This is a model that is working for consumers, and regulation is not needed.
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