MSPNetworks Blog

In the United States, the political scene is extremely divisive. This can be seen in nearly every political arena including the ongoing debate over who should have regulatory power over the Internet. In 2017, the Federal Communications Commission voted, three votes to two, to repeal the Net Neutrality rules that were implemented by the same regulatory body just two years prior. Today, with a new administration being sworn in in less than a month, we thought we’d revisit the net neutrality rules and see where we stand at present. 

What is Net Neutrality?

Net neutrality is the notion that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally. At its center is the debate over who owns the Internet broadcast rights. The most popular ISPs are huge telecommunications companies, and as a result, if they have control over how their services are delivered (as they do presently) they could use that power to influence how Internet services are deployed, how much they cost, and essentially operate without regulation.

The major argument today is that the more free-market approach, where the Internet should not be viewed as a utility, allows companies to build a better telecommunications infrastructure. Whether this is a legitimate reason, the FCC, led by FCC director Ajit Pai, successfully oversaw the repeal of the regulation in 2017, re-categorizing Internet services as giving complete control to the companies that distribute Internet services.

This was met with extreme frustration by the masses, who overwhelmingly believe that the Internet should be regulated as a utility to keep ISPs from being able to rake in huge profits off of massive public investment. Expect to see this debate pop back up again in the coming months.

Where We Stand Now

The Internet has been the saving grace of the world economy over the past 10 months. In the U.S., you’ve seen the ISPs rally to the aid of people for quite a while at the beginning of the stay-at-home period. So much so that the FCC decided to post an article on their website outlining how the ISPs have “Gone Above and Beyond” during the COVID-19 pandemic. To their credit, there were a few months where ISPs offered services they didn’t have to offer, but overall, with no mandate in place to keep lines of communication up, they went back to business-as-usual pretty quickly. 

If net neutrality were still in place, who knows if the ISPs would have gone that far, being that they were cutting into their organizational profitability. Regardless, without a regulatory body overseeing their business, it was good to see them take some positive action during a time when people were really confused and struggling. 

Will There Be Movement On This Issue in 2021? 

Of course, with the new administration coming in, there could be, but all signs point to political stalemate in the coming months. Ajit Pai has decided to step down on January 20th, leaving the new administration to select a replacement for FCC Director. Once that nominee is confirmed, the votes would presumably swing to a pro-net neutrality position. The thing is, getting that person confirmed may take up to eight months to happen. For this reason, there should be no expectations of a re-authorization of net neutrality laws in 2021.

What do you think about net neutrality? Do you think that ISPs need oversight to maintain fair practices or do you think that the natural market competition will keep ISPs from taking advantage of their positions? Leave your thoughts on this subject in the comments section below.

When we write about Net Neutrality, we typically write about how it is designed to keep the telecommunications conglomerates, who make Internet service available to individuals on the Internet, honest when laying out their Internet service sales strategy. One way to put it is that without net neutrality in place, the Big Four (which are currently Comcast, Charter, Verizon, and AT&T) have complete control over the amount of Internet their customers can access.

In 2018, the Federal Communications Commission repealed the Net Neutrality laws that were in place for several years with a vote of 3-to-2. This has allowed the ISPs to control the Internet again. Today, we present you with a brief reminder, and update the situation as we roll into 2019.

Our Internet?
Commercially-available Internet services have been made available for the better part of 30 years. It is available and utilized almost everywhere in the U.S. As broadband began to take off, there was a very noticeable shift in the way that ISPs governed high-speed internet. Today, as most applications require the use of high-speed Internet, it becomes more important than ever for people to have access to affordable high-speed Internet.

For the past seven years, legislators have attempted to pass a law that would secure an open Internet in the future. These attempts have failed miserably. Cases like Verizon Communications, Inc. vs. FCC haven’t helped the cause much, as the attempts to make broadband Internet service a utility were thwarted in the courts. Today, nobody really knows who is going to control the Internet in the days to come. Currently it is in the hands of the ISPs, but that doesn’t seem likely to stay that way. It seems like an issue that is split down party lines, so the controlling factor seemingly depends on what party controls the executive branch of the government. Without legislative intervention, that likely won’t change anytime soon.

What Is Going on with Net Neutrality Now?
Almost immediately after the last shift in 2018, lawsuits were filed and they seem to keep coming. States, advocacy groups, neutrality lobbies, and companies have all started lawsuits against the FCC both for their handling of the situation and for the repeal of net neutrality itself.

To see if the repeal of net neutrality is working to benefit consumers, you simply have to consider the following two points:

1. Net Neutrality is hindering broadband investment. In 2018, the Big Four spent much less than it did prior to the repeal of the net neutrality laws. It was the first time in three years that investment has been reduced.
2. It doesn’t make sense for ISPs to throttle Internet traffic. These companies reportedly slowed internet traffic without telling customers as soon as six weeks after the repeal. Websites such as YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon Prime were the most targeted for throttling. Verizon, specifically, was put into hot water after slowing speeds that led to slower EMS response times in sections of California battling record forest fires last year.

Despite the political bickering, there are similar views on some issues. Most governing bodies would like to see fast, open, and unobstructed Internet. There are older FCC mandates that have worked to prohibit ISPs from creating anticompetitive and harmful practices in the past, but whether these mandates would be enforceable with current FCC investment thwarted is unknown.

Individuals roundly support net neutrality laws. They simply don’t like the idea that corporations, whose stated purpose is to make as much profit as possible, hold control over how bandwidth is utilized. Only time will tell who is right.

If you would like to do something about it, go to https://www.battleforthenet.com/ and sign up. Do you believe market forces will keep ISPs honest, and the Internet open? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.