In December, the Federal Communications Commission voted to end net neutrality. Conservatives hailed it as a victory for the free market since it removed regulations that prevented internet providers from charging more for certain content or denying access to other content altogether. In reality, it’s shifting the power of the internet from content creators, like me, to big corporations like AT&T and Time-Warner.
Merging AT&T and Time-Warner would create a mega-provider that would operate as a monopoly in many areas. That’s what’s being proposed right now. The two giants would form a single company that could charge for access to certain websites or charge websites to load at certain speeds. We’re not deregulating the internet. We’re just giving big corporations the power to regulate what you can see and what you can’t. Before, government regulations prevented internet providers from doing that.
And really, what finer corporations do we have than AT&T and Time-Warner? Who doesn’t love hour long waits for customer service just to be told they need to send someone out? Are you available in two weeks? The internet providers are among the least popular industries in the nation. It’s doubtful less competition will make them better.
If you have doubts that AT&T or Time-Warner would restrict speed or access, you should know that they already have. AT&T had unlimited mobile data plans but once users reached a certain amount of data, the company slowed down access. Fortunately, the court yesterday ruled against AT&T to allow the Federal Trade Commission to prevent the practice. AT&T will appeal, though, and the FTC has less ability to regulate the big corporations than the FCC. If the merger goes through, the combined company will have even more muscle to influence Congress and the executive branch.
When it comes to corporations, I’m not a believer that bigger is better. When it comes to the internet, I don’t trust giving regulatory control over to the corporations. Allowing internet providers AT&T and Time-Warner to merge seems to bring out the worst of both ideas—a monopolistic corporation with the power to determine who can get what content. As a content provider, that seems like a real threat to what I do.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
Instead of paying to make the infrastructure work well for everyone, they want to charge more for less. Your own ability to fight for what you had & expected to have is limited. The Federal Appointees are on the side of the major corporations.
Spectrum (formerly Time Warner Cable) in Charlotte has now become the worst service I have ever encountered, even worse than the claims department of health insurance companies. It would take an entire hour to relate the mess of the past few months, affecting the entire apartment building in which I live almost daily. First level representatives are unfailingly polite and have truly tried to help, but problem is beyond their ability to solve. Today is the day for letter to the Public Service Commission, but I will have to edit my ranting extensively before mailing or be considered a complete nut case. If I were the only customer in this building calling them regularly, I might be a nut case, but I know of at least another 11 or 12 out of 48 apartments. Plus the Board of Directors and the management firm — for weeks.
As for slowing down service, right now,I would settle for reliable at any speed. Nonetheless your column is correct. It will cost more, be less reliable, and prices will continue to rise regularly. (Mine have in the six months that Spectrum has been in charge. Not much, but $7 in six months with zero notice will, I am certain, be followed within another few months, by another few dollars.) For this building, it is also a monopoly.