BCA Show Daily - Day 3 - 4

4

SUNTEC SINGAPORE

A part of

Show Daily | Thursday 28 June 2018

MARINA BAY SANDS * SUNTEC SINGAPORE

Net Neutrality has Turned 360 Degrees in
the U.S. - How Will it Affect the World?
We all thought any more discussion about net neutrality was done and over with back
in 2015 when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted Net Neutrality
rules that keep the Internet free and open, writes Stan Moote, CTO - IABM...

I

t was a fierce battle leading up to this decision
and at the end of 2017 the FCC reversed its
decision by removing the net neutrality rules.
Some are calling this Internet Freedom. Last
month, the U.S. Senate voted to overturn the
FCC decision but this is unlikely to restore Net
Neutrality as the House of Representatives
- and ultimately the President himself - are
unlikely to backtrack unless this becomes a
dominant election issue.

Ripple Effect
This all sounds so complex. Net Neutrality
isn't about blocking sites generally by a
country; it is thought to be more about
commercial issues. So, what does net
neutrality really mean and why should people
care outside of the USA? Is there a ripple
effect?

Net neutrality is all about ISPs (Internet
Service Providers) not being able to block,
or for that matter even slow down, specific
Internet traffic to their customers. Without
net neutrality, competitive services could be
slowed down or even blocked by ISPs. For
instance, an ISP that is owned or associated
with a media company could block or slow
up competing television services that are
using OTT for distribution.
For that matter, the reverse could happen
where media providers that rely on OTT
could indeed pay the ISPs to give their
services higher speeds, thus slowing down
their potential competition. With respect to
APAC, foreign streaming services could be
blocked or may need to pay ISPs for the right
to stream to their loyal customer base within
USA.

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Restoring
Internet Freedom
It's not only about
entertainment; beyond
blocking or slowing up
competing TV services,
opinions aired over the
Internet could also be
blocked if the ISP has
opposing views, stifling
free
speech
online.
Wow - here we are back
to freedom of the press! Many smaller lobby
groups are afraid they will lose their voices
and their ability to gain supporters using
social media, which naturally is relying on
Internet connectivity.
So why did the FCC make a 180-degree
turn? They call this "Restoring Internet
Freedom" - moving back to encourage rapid
Internet growth, openness, and freedom. As
Jim Burger, who is an attorney in Washington
at Thompson and Coburn explains it,
the current administration believes "less
regulation is good". I have spoken with
several colleagues including those whose
companies have a foot in the Internet and the
media business who believe this 180-degree
turn is good - however they declined to go on
record when I asked them to do an interview
for IABM-TV.
As you can see, there are very strong
opposing views on this topic. Thinking about
this on a broader level, Net Neutrality has
been considered very important for small
business owners, start-ups and entrepreneurs
to compete against the big guys who could
afford to bias the Internet service providers'
through-puts. Further, overseas companies
wanting to provide services within the U.S.
could be blocked. Either way, this new
"freedom" would effectively actually reduce
freedom of choice for buyers. After all, who
can do any business these days without
having an Internet presence? This could
happen in other countries too, protecting their
own services.
Speaking of start-ups, allowing the ISPs to
have net freedom is encouraging visionaries
to originate their companies and new offerings
outside of the USA because they fear their
new offerings could be blocked in the U.S.

Watching developments in Net Neutrality

by existing competitive offerings. There is a
good potential for U.S.-based entrepreneurs
to look for better opportunities elsewhere and
begin or move development and operations to
APAC.

Increasing Costs
Internet of Things (IoT) devices are a
whole topic among themselves. With many
IoT devices having a 10-year life on a single
battery with Wi-Fi or 5G conductivity, will ISPs
and mobile service providers only provide
their own locked-in "branded" products?
Another much talked about concern is that,
without net neutrality, ISPs' costs will go up,
so U.S.-based services will pass on these
cost increases outside the U.S..
This complex situation in the U.S. is still
battling away and is far from being decided
yet. It is rapidly becoming an election issue
now; so, we don't know if it will be a 180 or
360-degree turn - Net Neutrality or Internet
Freedom? What also muddies the waters is
each state can elect to have its own rules.
For these and several other reasons, the
Asia Pacific region can be affected directly
and it could be one of the driving forces
behind numerous regional decision-making
processes. Additionally, many countries
outside the U.S. are watching this closely
as they decide on their own communication
regulatory frameworks.
www.theiabm.org
Stan Moote has worked worldwide in the
industry for over three decades and is the CTO
for IABM, International Association for Broadcast
and Media Technology Suppliers. Stan has a
clear understanding of technology combined
with a solid business twist. You can see many of
Stan's articles at theIABM.org.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUsTvrLiWZgue1SFZAbAzR_XOqaga-8dy http://www.theiabm.org http://www.theIABM.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of BCA Show Daily - Day 3
