Net neutrality repeal raises questions regarding impact on UHCL community
The Federal Communications Commision (FCC)’s repeal of net neutrality went into effect June 11, after a December 2017 vote was conducted to repeal the policy.
Reasons for public concern have included that the repeal could allow telecom companies and broadband providers to block, throttle or prioritize web traffic in exchange for payment.
Some internet service providers have released statements declaring that they do not plan on blocking, throttling or enacting paid prioritization.
In a statement by President and Chief Executive Officer of Comcast Cable Dave Watson, Comcast declared that the repeal meant no change for the company’s broadband services.
Verizon Spokesperson Jeannine Brew provided a similar statement.
“These recent changes to net neutrality do nothing to change Verizon’s commitment to our customers regarding an open internet,” Brew said. “Our commitment has been the same for years and we have no plans to change it.”
Sprint released a statement saying the company “applauds the FCC’s efforts to simplify a complex and challenging issue, while balancing multiple stakeholder interests in this important proceeding.”
Clarke Iakovakis, scholarly communications librarian for the Neumann library, spoke about the library’s position on net neutrality.
“Our principles are very much in alignment [with net neutrality],” Iakovakis said. “Democracy is best served when people have access to all information and points of view. Libraries are vital to discourse in our comminutes. Getting access to information is essential to a democracy.”
As for how the repeal could affect usage of the Neumann library and libraries nationwide, Iakovakis said that he and his colleagues do not have a definite answer.
Iakovakis provided a possible scenario in that database aggregators, the companies that libraries subscribe to in order to provide free use of databases, could start charging more money.
“Under net neutrality, we simply paid the internet service providers and they would send the data,” Iakovakis said. “That’s the main fear, that they’re not permitted to look at data and charge you based on the data.”
Iakovakis addressed how the internet is now under the same regulation it was before 2015.
“The net neutrality policy of 2015 was meant to recognize the changing nature of the internet and maintain its protocols,” Iakovakis said. “The intent was to maintain those principles and prevent it from privileging certain ideas over others.”
Timothy Michael, associate professor of finance and a financial economist, provided insight into how net neutrality can have negative effects on investment.
“When the government mandates that all data is to be treated equally, which is the definition of net neutrality, it ignores the fact that some people will be willing to pay for faster data or faster, more reliable service, and that some people should probably receive service at a discount because they use less bandwidth, or network capacity, than others,” Michael said. “Neither of those things, nor the ability to charge more or less to different users based on how much they need or use, is doable under net neutrality.”
Michael said the regulation of the internet lessens competition, which then interferes with innovation.
“Competition lowers prices and encourages the development of new technologies and new solutions,” Michael said. “The late Gary Becker, an economist and Nobel Prize winner, published on this, as did many other notable economists. We didn’t need net neutrality to start with, as a society.”
Michael provided insight into what the repeal could mean for UHCL students.
“I think that since many of our students end up in high tech jobs, either on the tech side or business side, it will help them find roles in an expanding industry as new ways are found to provide faster and better access to the Web,” Michael said. “Also, as the net neutrality constructs of the last couple of years fade away it will be advantageous to businesses to do more things online as their speeds and access improve.”
More information on the repeal of net neutrality and updates on the FCC’s plans going forward can be found on their website, fcc.gov.
