Google Abandons Wireless Net Neutrality
The Internet was shocked when Google and Verizon teamed up and released a statement which outlines network neutrality rules for wireless. It appears that Google has reversed it’s previous position that the network should remain neutral and is now backing the idea that wireless providers should be able to manipulate wireless data. The key passage from Google’s policy blog:
“Sixth, we both recognize that wireless broadband is different from the traditional wireline world, in part because the mobile marketplace is more competitive and changing rapidly. In recognition of the still-nascent nature of the wireless broadband marketplace, under this proposal we would not now apply most of the wireline principles to wireless,”
The logic here seems to be that because, at any given location you can obtain wireless service from several different providers, market forces will keep the wireless providers in-line. If your provider is slowing access to a service you want, you can easily switch to a different provider.
This is a surprising and disappointing statement from Google. Fundamentally the importance of a neutral network does not decrease based on the medium it’s transported over nor the amount of competition. Furthermore, history shows that there is a strong likelihood that wireless providers will merge into fewer & larger companies decreasing competition over time. As our experience in Canada demonstrates, having only a handful of wireless competitors does not make them especially competitive. On the contrary, they tend to all offer more or less the same thing.
Google was previously the most important supporter of network neutrality and this statement is basically an admission that a neutral network isn’t actually all that important. The network neutrality movement has always faced strong opposition and this just might cause it to unravel.
