Net Neutrality Woes Tax US Mobile Providers
The FCC’s net neutrality regulations are once more in the news for all the wrong reasons. Mobile operators across the US were rudely awakened by the revised rules in this regard that are proposed to be implemented by the FCC. The new rules will put mobile operators on an equal footing with their fixed broadband peers.
The recent developments follow a conciliatory statement made by the FCC earlier about understanding the inherent differences in operating a mobile broadband system versus a fixed line network. This earlier statement had soothed tempers to some extent.
However, it appears imminent that a new set of regulations will be in place soon, regardless of what the operators think about them. These will be the most stringent and most comprehensive rules ever to be implemented in the US broadband industry. The final regulations may thus turn out to be far worse than what providers had ever imagined.
Net neutrality has been the focus of many a discussion following the concern that the ISPs may wield substantial power and hold over the information and data disbursed to users. The need for a governmental mechanism was thus felt, in order to ensure that there is no misuse anywhere. It was felt that the ISPs ought to be supervised so that they do not play foul with content for commercial reasons. A free and fair environment needs some form of regulation, and this was the belief behind the net neutrality regulations.
However, providers are now voicing concerns on the heavy restrictions that the proposed formalization of such regulations will impose on the industry as a whole. They feel that with such restrictive market conditions, further investments or expansion plans will become unviable propositions. Another concern for providers is that the limited broadcast spectrum available will not be used to its optimum limits under such restrictive conditions.
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