USA Today
Net neutrality advocates from Facebook to MoveOn.org argued Tuesday that a plan to allow preferred access to mobile Internet data would “kill Internet freedom” by allowing corporations to buy faster or more reliable access to deliver their content on mobile devices.
Byron Acohido writes that a proposal from Verizon and Google calls for “a new, enforceable prohibition against discriminatory practices” in the transmission of data over the Internet. However, the companies suggested that mobile devices should be excluded from those prohibitions and called for the Federal Communications Commission to be barred from regulating the Internet.
The FCC has been a fervent supporter of net neutrality on both desktop and wireless platforms and earlier this year called for a reallocation of wireless broadcast frequencies to support greater access to mobile data services.
Usage of Internet-connected mobile devices is predicted to surpass fixed desktop connections within five years. So a policy of preferred access for mobile devices is aimed directly at that expected majority of online consumers.
As publishers move toward mobile-first strategies, they need to question the impact on their own advertising, multimedia and interactive content if a company such as Google is able to guarantee that its content will be delivered more quickly and reliably to mobile audiences.
> Google and Verizon exclude mobile from net neutrality safeguards (GSMA Mobile Business Briefing)
> Google And Verizon Miss the Point About The Mobile Internet (Deliberately?) (GLG News)
> A Review of Verizon and Google’s Net Neutrality Proposal (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
