Published 23/07/2017
Special Edition Editorial
Net Neutrality:
Just because the internet is open today doesn't mean it will be open tomorrow
What is Net Neutrality?
Net Neutrality is a controversial topic, it highlights the divide between big corporations and their paying customers. It's peculiar because the very people who provide access to the internet intend to destroy it. The battle has gained substantial attraction in the United States where internet service providers and mobile networks have decided to abuse the very idea of the internet, an open interconnected and uncensored network which provides millions of petabytes of information at your fingertips. The basic idea of Net Neutrality is that Internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favouring or blocking particular services or websites. This concept says that services, for example Netflix, are to be available on every internet service provider or mobile network and are to be treated equally. Net Neutrality ensures that the internet remains an open and unbiased portal to information and prevents services from being blocked or throttled by an internet service provider or mobile network.
Without Net Neutrality, the internet would be like Cable TV
We've all heard of companies such as Sky which provide cherry-picked channels and programs for your television. Sky, like many other Cable TV services, forces you to watch what they provide you with. It's a broken way of delivering content to your television that allows companies to maximise profits. The Cable TV industry has been looked down upon in most countries because of its lack of choice and high price. Unlike the Internet, you pay to use the service, a service that is controlled by a single company. Cable TV isn't an open and unbiased service, it's actually a walled garden forcing you to make decisions from limited options controlled by a company. Just take a look at some of Sky's TV packages in Ireland at the moment, you have to pay to get 'access' to a limited range of channels, fork out more for HD content and fork out even more for content such as sports and movies. These types of services end up costing you a ludicrous amount of money and you arent even allowed watch what you want. This is the reason why millions of people have been 'cutting the cord' by canceling their Cable TV service and signing up for cheaper and better alternatives such as Netflix and Amazon Video. Cable TV is the pynical example of what the internet would look like without net neutrality.
Internet service providers and mobile networks would take advantage of their own service by charging both customers who pay to access the internet and services such as Netflix and Facebook to gain access to the Internet service provider's customers. Think of the services you use on your computer or phone at the moment, almost all require internet access to function. You could be forced to pay for access to social services such as Snapchat and Instagram or to pay for access to news outlets like CNN or Sky News. Internet service providers could create their own unrestricted services to run on their own infrastructure, potentially eliminating their competitors. For example, Eir could create their own unrestricted version of YouTube and charge customers extra to access YouTube. This would wreck havoc on smaller services and businesses who don't have the money or power to pay internet service providers for access to their customers.
Internet service providers and mobile networks would take advantage of their own service by charging both customers who pay to access the internet and services such as Netflix and Facebook to gain access to the Internet service provider's customers. Think of the services you use on your computer or phone at the moment, almost all require internet access to function. You could be forced to pay for access to social services such as Snapchat and Instagram or to pay for access to news outlets like CNN or Sky News. Internet service providers could create their own unrestricted services to run on their own infrastructure, potentially eliminating their competitors. For example, Eir could create their own unrestricted version of YouTube and charge customers extra to access YouTube. This would wreck havoc on smaller services and businesses who don't have the money or power to pay internet service providers for access to their customers.
Throttle, Throttle, Throttle
Throttling, the infamous act of intentionally slowing one's internet service isn't a new technique in Ireland. All the large Irish telecoms companies throttle their customers for many varying reasons. Three, Eir, Virgin Media and recently Vodafone have decided to punish their customers who exceed their monthly allowance of data. It's a clever but annoying technique to curb high data usage by certain customers. Three is notorious for throttling its customers because of their 'All you can Eat Data' plans. The plans aren't really unlimited so when you exceed 60GB of data usage in a 28 day period Three throttles your data in congested areas. This means that where you would normally get 60Mbps on 4G, you now get a measly 0.1Mbps making it impossible to stream video. This type of throttling, while sneaky, is legal since it is stated in the terms and conditions of your plan. Mobile networks also claim that this type of throttling is necessary to minimise congestion on the network by preventing a small number of heavy data users adversely affecting others data experience.
However, in some countries such as the United States more devious tactics are being used by mobile networks and internet service providers which clearly violate Net Neutrality laws. Verizon, the largest mobile network in the United States, has admitted it secretly throttled Netflix and YouTube streams after customers complained of long buffering times. Verizon has been found to throttle 4G speeds to as little as 1Mbps for YouTube and Netflix streams. Netflix and YouTube now account for over 50% of download traffic on mobile networks globally, a staggering portion that has frightened some mobile networks like Verizon. Things get worse when you understand that Verizon's own version of Netflix, Go90, is prioritised during peak hours. This means Verizon is prioritising its own service over others and throws the concept of Net Neutrality out the window.
This type of throttling is illegal in most countries, including the United States and Verizon is facing massive fines for its actions. But that's changing, the FCC or Federal Communications Commission is the equivalent of ComReg in Ireland and wants to abolish Net Neutrality. In other words, the American telecoms watchdog believes the telecoms industry should govern itself. If companies such as Verizon are already throttling customers when it is illegal, what will they do when it becomes legal. It could evolve into a catastrophic, irreversible disaster that would hinder competition and stifle innovation.
However, in some countries such as the United States more devious tactics are being used by mobile networks and internet service providers which clearly violate Net Neutrality laws. Verizon, the largest mobile network in the United States, has admitted it secretly throttled Netflix and YouTube streams after customers complained of long buffering times. Verizon has been found to throttle 4G speeds to as little as 1Mbps for YouTube and Netflix streams. Netflix and YouTube now account for over 50% of download traffic on mobile networks globally, a staggering portion that has frightened some mobile networks like Verizon. Things get worse when you understand that Verizon's own version of Netflix, Go90, is prioritised during peak hours. This means Verizon is prioritising its own service over others and throws the concept of Net Neutrality out the window.
This type of throttling is illegal in most countries, including the United States and Verizon is facing massive fines for its actions. But that's changing, the FCC or Federal Communications Commission is the equivalent of ComReg in Ireland and wants to abolish Net Neutrality. In other words, the American telecoms watchdog believes the telecoms industry should govern itself. If companies such as Verizon are already throttling customers when it is illegal, what will they do when it becomes legal. It could evolve into a catastrophic, irreversible disaster that would hinder competition and stifle innovation.
Is Ireland Vulnerable?
As I've already explained, telecom companies in Ireland are already throttling their customers. Services such as Sky, Eir TV and Vodafone TV already exist and offer limited, walled garden experiences for a high price. Net Neutrality has received significantly less news attention in Ireland compared to other countries and that should worry you because Ireland is particularly vulnerable to a limited, restricted internet. With three mobile networks, Ireland has one less network than the global average. The same is true for broadband, Eir holds a monopoly, having the only broadband network in most areas. This is worrying because with less players and less competition, it limits the amount of options people have when picking their network or broadband provider. It's even more worrisome when we consider two of the mobile networks are also two of the broadband and cable tv players.
Thankfully, we haven't seen too many breaches of Net Neutrality in Ireland as of yet. Vodafone and Eir, the largest communications providers in Ireland are following Net Neutrality concepts at the moment. Meteor, Ireland's third largest mobile network and a subsidiary of Eir, has been accused of breaching Net Neutrality rules by zero-rating some social media services such as Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Facebook. This means that Meteor customers can use these services as much as they want without eating into their data allowances. However this seemingly beneficial addition to Meteor's plans harms smaller services and even some big ones which are not zero-rated such as Netflix. I also have to call out Vodafone for zero-rating it's own TV service on its mobile plans. Like Meteor's zero-rating service, Vodafone's zero-rating of it's own Vodafone TV service is beneficial to the customer but may harm smaller services as people try to limit their data usage and use Vodafone's own service instead.
Unfortunately, no major mobile network or internet service provider has openly advocated for Net Neutrality in Ireland. That includes Three, Vodafone and Eir who have all remained silent on the matter to date.
Thankfully, we haven't seen too many breaches of Net Neutrality in Ireland as of yet. Vodafone and Eir, the largest communications providers in Ireland are following Net Neutrality concepts at the moment. Meteor, Ireland's third largest mobile network and a subsidiary of Eir, has been accused of breaching Net Neutrality rules by zero-rating some social media services such as Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Facebook. This means that Meteor customers can use these services as much as they want without eating into their data allowances. However this seemingly beneficial addition to Meteor's plans harms smaller services and even some big ones which are not zero-rated such as Netflix. I also have to call out Vodafone for zero-rating it's own TV service on its mobile plans. Like Meteor's zero-rating service, Vodafone's zero-rating of it's own Vodafone TV service is beneficial to the customer but may harm smaller services as people try to limit their data usage and use Vodafone's own service instead.
Unfortunately, no major mobile network or internet service provider has openly advocated for Net Neutrality in Ireland. That includes Three, Vodafone and Eir who have all remained silent on the matter to date.
The more a company grows, the less it cares about Net Neutrality
Successful companies eventually stop caring about the open internet. Netflix is a perfect example of this. Two years ago the company was a huge advocate for Net Neutrality, producing charts and advertisements, paying lobbyists and warning of the dangers to come if Net Neutrality was ignored. However, Netflix's CEO Reed Hastings recently said the company is less worried about Net Neutrality than it was before and that smaller companies could carry the water. This is particularly disturbing because Netflix wouldn't be thriving without Net Neutrality.
Big companies such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon have spent millions lobbying for Net Neutrality. Thats a good thing because these companies wouldn't exist without it. Google and Amazon arguably have the most to lose if internet service providers ignore Net Neutrality. Amazon could be forced to pay companies like Eir for an internet fast lane or could be blocked altogether if a rival such as eBay pays more for access to the internet service provider's customers. It could wreck havoc on Google if competitors such as Microsoft's Bing pay more for no throttling and faster web searches.
Big companies such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon have spent millions lobbying for Net Neutrality. Thats a good thing because these companies wouldn't exist without it. Google and Amazon arguably have the most to lose if internet service providers ignore Net Neutrality. Amazon could be forced to pay companies like Eir for an internet fast lane or could be blocked altogether if a rival such as eBay pays more for access to the internet service provider's customers. It could wreck havoc on Google if competitors such as Microsoft's Bing pay more for no throttling and faster web searches.
The companies providing the internet are destroying the internet
An internet without Net Neutrality isn't an internet , it's an intranet. It's a walled garden like current Cable TV services such as Sky. There's no choice and no openness. Customers will be charged to access different services, companies who don't pay up will see their internet traffic collapse and smaller companies will be hurt most. An internet without Net Neutrality would stifle innovation, it would prevent advancement and would be the biggest disaster of our time. The internet was built to provide information to billions of people and to spread knowledge all across the globe. The internet has facilitated the growth of revolutionary products such as the smartphone and computer. It's more than just entertainment services and social media that's at stake, millions of jobs are at stake too. Let's just hope internet service providers don't become a victim of their own success. Lets hope the very people who provide the internet don't destroy the internet.
