Net Neutrality Debate - Who is right?

Who will win and who is right? 

"Net Neutrality" debate is doing rounds across the globe for positive or negative reasons (depending on your take, that is) for some while now. Is it necessary to have a big debate on this topic? Looking at the arguments, there are some strong agreeable points of view (POV) on both sides.

Couple of good "Need-to-know" links on Net Neutrality are.

• A simplified article from "The Hindu" Newspaper - https://www.thehindu.com/business/net-neutrality-nuts-and-bolts/article7102327.ece 
• A good write-up in "The Washington Post" -  https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2015/02/26/your-guide-to-net-neutrality-everything-you-need-to-know-about-todays-fcc-vote/ 
• There are other funnier versions such as Jon Olivier, AIB's take etc. 

Coming to the key arguments.

1. One would ask, why would a service provider invest a large sums of money in a network build, if it is not able to get a decent return on investment via service differentiation? Are we not having similar types of services - be it travel, hospitality or any service oriented business where people pay premium to get a better service? Why should it not be the case for the service providers who invest.  It is another discussion, if service providers are using someone else's infrastructure to demand a premium. Given the way Internet is built/structured, there is no single owner for pipe, services etc. It would eventuate to communication service providers having their own, niche platforms akin to private roads (built and owned end-to-end by the operators). In this case, it is in their own rights to demand a premium or offer services as they seem necessary.
2. On the other hand, why should the end consumers get impacted, When it comes to a hybrid model such as Internet which is a product of amalgamation of research over 45 years, investment by thousands of firms and geniuses, it may seem bit annoying for the consumers when they see the operators are charging premium or giving FREEMIUM with the control over the pipe via throttling, prioritization etc, which is being made illegal by FCC with the new laws.

Is Internet Free for all? Is it a protected entity? Should the service providers get an Return-on-investment (ROI) on what they have invested in? Why is it illegal for a company to get revenue either from the consumer (PREMIUM to consumer) or from firms (FREEMIUM to consumer) to have a viable operating model.

In the late nineties, NetZero offered free internet and got its revenue share via advertisements. Customer experience was impacted. Currently majority of the free apps drive revenue via advertisements / sponsorship with an impact in customer experience (along with phablet performance - such as battery, computing power, network consumption etc.). Same model is applicable to YouTube, Hotstar and other players offering FREEMIUM over the internet as Over The Top Players (OTTs).

The summary is that customers bear the impact (either positive or negative depending on FREEMIUM or PREMIUM service they have). Additionally, there is a capacity constraints seen in terms of network infrastructure. At the end of the day, the governments don't build the infrastructure for free internet but the service providers do. And every business is keen on making money. Why would they offer it for free.

I feel that we haven't reached a socialistic context yet to have free internet or have Net neutrality that is service, bandwidth, provider, application agnostic. It is an excellent topic to have debates with no end in point.

I also feel, it is better to stay away and wait for a positive outcome from a consumer standpoint. The regulatory organizations and the service providers will sort it out eventually ( hopefully not in 20 years time but in 2.). It would be interesting to see the outcome of the Service Providers Vs FCC lawsuit in the US and potential offshoots in other parts of the world. In US alone well over $211 Billion is at stake by 2018 as per Yankee Group report.

Discussion on Net-neutrality is like a statistical test on coin-tosses or an ambiguous open ended argument.

What's your take?

Hope you liked the post. Comments are welcome.

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