Interesting article from el reg which seems to have been overlooked in the world of broadband. At first it may not seem much or nothing new.. the interesting facts really start on page 2. It may take some reading and thinking about, but could this change broadband access and the internet?
Google's coup: The internet's first rule bookI'll just list some of the bullet points
- The power play is over how data intensive, high quality services such as video will be delivered. Only a handful of large US companies make any significant revenue from the web.
- Google's plan is simple. It will simply remove the ability of infrastructure companies to make money. Google can avoid competing with access networks, because it doesn't need to. By pouring billions into content networks instead - its own private internet - it can stand by and watch those last mile businesses become increasingly unprofitable [last mile businesses being the ISPs and other access providers?]
- It's under the flags of "open access" and "net neutrality" that the battle is being conducted - and now neutrality has arrived in Europe.
- The driving force behind the new rules is surprising. It's not the business world's natural bureaucracies, the telecoms companies with their ancestry as state-owned or state-regulated monopolies. It's actually Google
- Last year the Commission formally proposed the establishment of a new pan-European watchdog, the ETMA or European Telecom Market Authority, taking over many of the powers of the 27 member states' national regulators such as OFCOM. This year, discussions on telecommunications reform ("The Telecoms Package") began in earnest, and this included the establishment of a super-regulator.
- A new Article, 22.3, proposes: [and this is where it starts to get interesting.]
take other measures in order to prevent degradation of service and slowing of traffic over networks, and to ensure that the ability of users to access or distribute lawful content or to run lawful applications and services of their choice is not reasonable restricted.
- The strongest opposition is likely to come from OFCOM, which regards explicit neutrality legislation as unnecessary. Like all NRAs, OFCOM would prefer not to engage in a turf war with a super-quango.
Most of us know what the term
net neutrality means.. and since its google thats behind this - then it will impact streams such as YouTube (owned by google).
At face value it may seem good - but I'll let you read the caveats at the bottom of page 2 and page 3 and make up your own mind.. but I think this sums it up.
Left unregulated, we're likely to see the mutual dependence between content providers like Google and telcos continue. Yet there's no doubt Google feels the pressure more urgently. While the web advertising market is now comparable to TV in the UK, Google, unlike others, needs to maintain the spectacular growth of the early years, and it has no particular advantages in serving brand advertisers. Given the general difficulty of monetizing web content, you can see how Google feels it needs a helping hand from bureaucrats.
By posing as the consumer's champion, Google can start to implement its plan for the destruction of value in European telecoms. ®
