U.S. wireless carriers ready to fight mobile net neutrality

Jake Widman
Friday, 25 September 2009 05:57

Your IT - Mobility

Genachowski made a point of mentioning "new mobile and satellite broadband networks [that] are getting faster every day, and extraordinary devices like smartphones and wireless data cards [that] are making it easier to stay connected while on the go."

And he went on to say that the Internet itself should remain open, however users get there.

This last caught the attention of wireless providers, who now enjoy the ability to control the devices, services, and content available on their networks.

Chris Guttman-McCabe, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs for CTIA-The Wireless Association, issued a statement saying that his organization was "concerned about the unintended consequences Internet regulation would have on consumers considering that competition within the industry has spurred innovation, investment, and growth" -- the standard response to attempts to mandate Net neutrality.

Guttman-McCabe went on to claim that, "Unlike the other platforms that would be subject to the rules, the wireless industry is extremely competitive, extremely innovative, and extremely personal."

He followed that up with a series of rhetorical questions: "How do the rules apply to the single-purpose Amazon Kindle? How does it apply to Google’s efforts to cache content to provide a better consumer experience? How about the efforts from Apple and Android, Blackberry and Nokia, Firefly and others to differentiate the products and services they develop for consumers? Should all product and service offerings be the same?"

In its own statement, AT&T argued that "net neutrality is rooted in an assumption that broadband networks are instantly expandable, to an infinite extent, at little or no cost. To base policy assumptions on such fallacies is to conduct a risky experiment with American broadband investment, nearly all of which is private investment on which our nation depends."

The FCC has set up a website, OpenInternet.gov , for comments on and discussion of the issue.