DENVER – Net neutrality has been a hot topic among telecommunication providers for years, increasing in importance in the Internet age. A recent court decision on the matter that found the Federal Communications Commission needed to adjust its angle if it wanted to regulate Internet service providers has only added fuel to the topic’s fire.
A CEO round table panel at the recent Telecom Exchange West event held in Denver, touched on the topic of net neutrality, with definitive opinions among panel members as to the potential impact of the court’s decision and more heated as to how net neutrality rules can be enforced.
The split was evident early when Allied Fiber CEO Hunter Newby defined what net neutrality is by stating it had two parts: the legal side of the definition and the physical part of the connection. Newby explained that the initial intent of net neutrality was to provide open access to at a networks lower levels – levels one and two – and not necessarily at the Internet level at level four. With the recent court decision forcing the FCC to adjust how it will regulate the provision, Newby said there was currently no entity in place at the moment with any authority over such regulations.
“It’s the wild west,” Newby said. “It’s sort of scary.”
RCR Wireless News spoke with Allied Fiber CEO Hunter Newby on the company’s dark fiber business model.
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CenturyLink EVP for public policy and government relations Steve Davis, thought the FCC came out on top in the court decision, as it did allow for the government agency to regulate net neutrality, just not in the way it was currently attempting to regulate. Davis also brought up issues surrounding the cost structure for Internet access, noting that there were still issues regarding who should cover the costs associated with Internet access.
“The issue is whether ISPs can sale access to both consumers and content providers for superior access,” Davis stated.
David Reed from the University of Colorado’s Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program, added that AT&T’s recently announced sponsored data program is a prime example of a carrier potentially charging both sides for the use of its network.
“The FCC is going about it on a case by case basis because there are no really sure yet what the concerns will be,” Reed said.
Connected with the net neutrality discussion, Comcast’s recent deal with Netflix over the handling of the content provider’s streaming services was debated. Newby seemed convinced that the announcement of that agreement just one week after the court’s net neutrality decision was not a coincidence and could set a far-reaching precedent across the telecommunications space.
“When a network owns the last mile they are the ones content providers need to negotiate with,” Newby said. “If Netflix has to cut a deal with Comcast, that supersedes net neutrality rules.”
Newby added that such a scenario could eventually impact the mobile environment as application developers could see their business model impacted if those running applications stores have not made arrangement’s with last-mile providers.
“If you are an app developer you have to hope that Apple has sat down and made those agreements,” Newby added.
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