U.S. media watchdog passes net neutrality law that paves way for 'two-speed' internet for mobiles
By Niall Firth
Last updated at 9:01 AM on 23rd December 2010
Accessing the internet on mobile phones will not be subject to the same net neutrality laws
New rules designed to keep the internet free have come under fire for allowing a 'two-speed' internet that will let firms charge for accessing services on mobile phones.
The new guidelines, narrowly passed by the Federal Communications Commission last night, are designed to stop phone and cable companies from blocking services that travel over their networks.
But critics say the rules leave open the possibility of broadband providers creating internet fast lanes for services like video – something critics say is one step towards a ‘two-tier’ internet.
Crucially, mobile phone carriers have been exempted from the rules and will now be free to charge users extra to watch online video services
At a time when more and more people go online using smart phones and other mobile devices instead of computers, the rules leave mobile phone companies with tremendous control over tomorrow's internet.
And critics say the rules do not do enough to break the existing hold that wireless carriers have over the online applications that subscribers can access through their systems.
The regulations ban wireless carriers from blocking access to any websites or competing services such as internet-calling applications on mobile devices.
But wireless companies get more leeway to manage data traffic because wireless systems have less network bandwidth and can easily become overwhelmed with traffic more easily than fixed broadband.
Technology website Engadget has suggested that lobbying behind the scenes by Google has helped influence the decision not to enforce net neutrality on wireless providers. Google's Android mobile operating system has seen it go head to head with the iPhone in the U.S.
The rules also will not apply to phone makers, so Apple could still dictate which applications to accept or reject for the iPhone. Apple could choose to block Skype, for instance, even if AT&T, which provides wireless service for the iPhone in the U.S., cannot.
Internet service providers will not be allowed to block U.S. users from accessing web services like Skype, pictured, but the new rules do allow firms to charge for high-bandwidth services
The rules require broadband providers to let subscribers access all legal online content, applications and services over their wired networks.
But they do give providers flexibility to manage data on their systems to deal with network congestion and unwanted traffic, including spam, as long as they publicly disclose how they manage the network.
Critics say the new rules on so-called ‘net neutrality’ are a compromise that has handed far too much power to the big companies who control how normal customers access the internet.
The FCC has come under attack for interfering in regulation of the internet and for essentially bowing to pressure from the very big firms it is meant to protect consumers from.
By giving big media firms the power to decide how to manage their bandwidth is a slippery slope towards charging for premium content and web censorship, critics fear.
The vote, which was passed 3-2, quickly came under attack from the commission's two Republicans, who voted against it, who said the rules would discourage investments in broadband.
The rules, known as ‘net neutrality,’ have been at the centre of a dispute for at least five years. The issue hit many internet users in 2007, when U.S. cable giant Comcast slowed traffic from an internet file-sharing service called BitTorrent.
Comcast argued that the service, which was used to trade movies and other big files over the internet, was clogging its network.
The new FCC rules are intended to prevent that type of behaviour.
The new rules have the backing of the White House and capped a year of efforts by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski to find a compromise.
‘Today, for the first time, we are adopting rules to preserve basic internet values,’ Genachowski said. ‘For the first time, we'll have enforceable rules of the road to preserve internet freedom and openness.’
Critics fear the rules do not do enough to ensure that broadband providers cannot favour their own traffic or the traffic of business partners that can pay extra.
Many are also uncomfortable at the prospect of the federal authorities stepping in to dictate what can or cannot be passed to consumers, in direct opposition to the concept of a ‘free and open internet’.
Big websites such as Google could pay to have their content download more quickly than smaller sites - leading to what critics term a two-tiered internet.
Andrew Jay Schwartzman, policy director for the nonprofit Media Access Project, said: 'There is a reason that so many giant phone and cable companies are happy, and we are not. These rules are riddled with loopholes.
'They foreshadow years of uncertainty and regulatory confusion, which those carriers will use to their advantage.'
The new rules probably will not mean big changes for internet users, at least at first. In the wake of the Comcast row, all of the major broadband providers have already pledged not to discriminate against internet traffic on their wired networks.
Republicans said they worry the rules will discourage phone and cable companies from upgrading their networks because it will be more difficult for them to earn a healthy return on their investments.
Robert McDowell, one of the FCC's two Republicans, predicted that the watchdog will face court challenges to its regulatory authority as well.
In April, a federal appeals court ruled that the agency had exceeded its existing authority in sanctioning Comcast for discriminating against online file-sharing traffic on its network.
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