Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski wants to mandate Internet service providers to grant consumers equal access to all legal Web applications and services — and the debate is on. What was once the battleground for wired service providers has been expanded to the flourishing wireless industry, and that spells bad news for large telecom and cable operators like AT&T, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile and Comcast.
As of now, these companies can restrict any device, application, service or content on their networks that competes with their own products, Zacks Investment Research explained in a research note.
“In regard to controlling the flow of bandwidth-consuming applications such as video streaming, the ISPs have been discriminating against several Web content and application developers,” Zacks said. “The FCC recommendation will disallow this discriminatory practice on the part of wireless, wireline or cable operators from either blocking or slowing access to any video or phone services. The new Net-neutrality rule will be a boost to the Web content and application providers like Google.”
Skype Welcomes Mandates
Christopher Libertelli, Skype’s senior director of government and regulatory affairs, welcomes Genachowski’s balanced approach to protecting investments in networks and the applications that drive people to buy broadband access. The FCC’s decision could make room for Skype on mobile phones.
“If done correctly, this move will open up more innovation and allow consumers to make the choice about which applications they would like to use, without having that choice dictated to them by network operators,” Libertelli said. “There has been much debate about whether to apply openness rules to both wired and wireless networks, and we are pleased about the (FCC) Notice of Proposed Rule Making, which maintains incentives for carriers to invest in their networks and it provides ample flexibility for carriers to manage their networks — all while protecting…