FCC Issues Notice Related To Open Net Proposal
The FCC issued its formal public notice Wednesday on whether open Internet rules should apply to mobile broadband and specialized services.
The notice was released less than a month after Google and Verizon released their proposed policy framework aimed at finding middle ground on the network neutrality debate. Their proposal called for barring wireline broadband providers from discriminating against or prioritizing lawful Internet content, applications or services. However, the framework called for exempting fast-growing wireless Internet services from all the principles except for transparency and allowing for specialized services to be fast-tracked over the Internet.
The notice seeks comment on whether network neutrality protections "may be weakened" if broadband providers offer specialized services that are substantially similar to but do not technically meet the definition of broadband Internet access service; whether broadband providers would stop investing in broadband Internet access services to provide more specialized services; and whether they would engage in "anti-competitive conduct with respect to specialized services" if network neutrality provisions do not apply to these services.
"These concerns, particularly the second and third, may be exacerbated by worries that due to limited choice among broadband Internet access service providers, consumers may not be able to effectively exercise their preferences for broadband Internet access service (or content, applications, or services available through broadband Internet access service) over specialized services," according to the notice. The commission outlined six policy approaches that could address these concerns including defining broadband Internet access service "clearly and perhaps broadly" and prohibiting providers from advertising specialized services as a substitute for broadband access services.
On Wireless broadband, the notice seeks comment on "how, to what extent, and when openness principles should apply to mobile wireless platforms, with a particular emphasis on furthering innovation, private investment, competition, and freedom of expression." It notes that new pricing plans from such providers as AT&T and Leap Wireless that are based on data usage "may reduce mobile broadband providers' incentives to employ more restrictive network management practices that could run afoul of open Internet principles," the notice said.
Comments must be filed within 30 days of the notice's publication in the Federal Register with reply comments due 55 days after that date.
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