The topic of Net Neutrality has waxed and waned over the past three or four years as more fashionable and sexier topics have dominated the media. But it has not gone away - nor can we expect it to. In truth Net Neutrality is a central issue for the future of communications. In its simplest form it is an argument about whether the people who provide and operate the networks should be able to charge differently depending on which type of service is consuming their network capacity. The Operators argue that unless they can do this they will not be able to justify more and more investment in bandwidth to meet the insatiable requirements of web based video. Net Neutralists argue that flat fee access for fixed bandwidth is what has enabled the net to grow, and to introduce significantly new business models will stiffle the innovation.
And this is not (as is often thought) a US-only issue. I noticed with interest this week that BT has waded into the discussion. The Financial Times has reported that BT is planning to stop the 'free ride' that video streaming sites are getting at their expense. This doesn't seem to be about stopping innovation but is rather the first step in a 'grown up' discussion that BT is trying to foster between themselves and the content providers on how to create a win-win. One such discussion seems to be already underway between BT and the BBC (the main culprit it seems in hogging the bandwidth) on how to cooperate in IPTV delivery via project Canvas. I suspect that many other such 'grown up' discussions are going to have to start taking place before the net neutrality issue can be resolved.
Posted
06-18-2009 2:51 AM
by
Martin Creaner