We haven’t run our Net Neutrality reports for some time, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a festering issue. There have been some developments, and maybe it’s time to get brought up to date.
73 Democrats tell FCC: drop net neutrality rules
A slew of House Democrats have sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission warning the agency not to go forward with its plan to partially reclassify ISPs as common carriers, a move needed to impose net neutrality rules.
“The uncertainty this proposal creates will jeopardize jobs and deter needed investment for years to come,” wrote Texas Congressman Gene Green on Monday. “The significant regulatory impact of reclassifying broadband service is not something that should be taken lightly and should not be done without additional direction from Congress.”
continue reading :: Howard Wyman arstechnica.com/
Will Dirty Politics Kill the Internet?
Congress just sold you out to Comcast, Verizon and AT&T.
Big phone and cable companies are so determined to dismantle consumer protections on the open Internet that they’ve spent millions to flip Congress against you. Earlier this week, many in Congress delivered. continue reading :: huffingtonpost.com
US lags behind world in broadband speeds
According to Net Index, a new website operated by Seattle-based Ookla (the people behind Speedtest.net), the United States is falling behind the rest of the world when it comes to wired broadband speeds.
Based on user test info generated over the past 30 days, Net Index ranked the US 26th in the world for downlink speeds with an average downlink speed of 10.16Mbps. Such speeds might not seem all that bad at first glance, but considering that the global average is 7.67Mbps, it’s clear that US ISPs have a lot of ground to make up. continue reading :: boygeniusreport.com
Reichert, Larsen should understand consumers benefit from Net neutrality
The telecommunication and cable lobbyists orchestrating opposition to Net neutrality have been busy combing Congress for friends to thwart any action that brings sensible consumer-oriented policy to the Internet.
They have made some headway as exemplified by a couple letters signed by 74 Democrats and 171 Republicans. The letters were sent to Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. continue reading :: seattletimes
AT&T’s data-hog move
It was quickly obvious that AT&T Inc.’s (NYSE:T) decision to charge wireless subscribers based on the amount of data they consume, announced Wednesday will have far-reaching affects on mobile phone service. Other carriers will rethink their invoices, causing all but the most indulgent smart-phone users to pause before data bingeing.
Less apparent, but equally important, is the way the pricing shift may influence the debate over network neutrality and the government’s ability to regulate Internet service providers. continue reading :: Chris Nolter – thedeal.com
Snowe pans FCC plan on net neutrality
Sen. Olympia Snowe, the most vocal net neutrality supporter among GOP senators, has joined her colleagues in urging Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski not to change the regulatory classification of broadband service.
Snowe said she supports the commission’s goal of keeping the Internet open and expanding broadband to all Americans, but that she sees “significant drawbacks” in Genachowski’s proposal to change broadband’s regulatory status. continue reading :: thehill.com
Net neutrality: will it really work against mobile broadband profitability?
In the US the war of words over net neutrality seems to have morphed into something unrecognisable, so on TelecomTV last week, we tried to bring the issue back to earth.
Confused? You will be. The rhetoric in the US over the neutrality issue is now going nuclear, with the latest contribution from the anti-neutrality side being that the Obama administration is plotting to “take over the Internet” and the FCC’s recent efforts to ‘reclassify’ the net as a telecoms (rather than as an information) service is all part of this conspiracy. continue reading :: www.telecomtv.com
These issues will affect everyone’s use of the internet — and the final outcome may not be what you expect. We’ll try to keep you in the loop, but if you’re concerned about the way things are going, we urge you to take a pro-active stance and contact your ISP and your government representation. Let your voice be heard
Thanks for reading…
Editor / Publisher: InfoManager
