Net Neutrality is a topic near and dear to our hearts here at Gigsby. The way it has shaped up, it became a battle between the Telecom and cable companies who want to have full control over what runs through their pipes and pretty much everybody else. Telecom and Cable companies may aspire to become application service providers all they want, but it is a completely different business that is best understood and delivered by those little Internet startups popping up in hundreds everyday – just like ourselves. So while I do understand why Telcos hate to be treated as utility companies, that is, for the better or worse, exactly what they are.
Verizon, AT&T and others – and their lobbyists – are trying to push two sensitive buttons to make people sceptical about Net Neutrality:
(1) If we do not let throttle excessive data, we will have to charge the users more.
(2) Government regulation is a bad thing.
Well, here is our take on it:
First off, scale up your networks to meet the current data traffic demand (AT&T’s struggles with iPhone traffic are well documented and experienced). If you must, increase your prices to pay for your capital expenses but remember, you will do it at your own competitive risk. There is always someone out there with better technology or less overhead to beat you up.
As for the regulation scare: This is a valid concern put out of context. In this case, the battle is not between freedom of choice vs government regulation. It is the FCC making sure that the Telcos themselves don’t regulate the quality and quantity of user access to Internet services.
So what’s the bottom line?
Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures laid out the debate in very simple terms today in his blog here. “Would AT&T or Comcast have created Google, Facebook, or Youtube?” I guess the answer is clear. So “don’t sit on the sidelines in this debate. Make your voices heard”
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Tags: AT&T, FCC, Fred Wilson, freedom of choice, Internet access, net neutrality, Verizon