Australia and most countries don’t have to fear Internet quality problems in the same way as would be possible in the US, according to a telecoms analyst who made the comments following the US decision to end net neutrality rules which regulate access to the Internet.
Australian telecoms analyst Paul Budde said the environment on net neutrality in all other developed economies, including Australia, is different.
“The situation in all of the other developed economies it totally different. Broadband is part of the telecoms regulatory regime and this has created a well-functioning competitive retail market, in Australia with over 50 providers,” Budde said.
According to Budde the US competition watchdog - the Federal Communications Commission - has little power to hold telcos accountable to the nature of their broadband services.
{loadposition peter}“Back in 1996 broadband was classified as a content service and not a telecom service.
“Competition, not bandage solutions such as Net Neutrality, is the solution to the American problem,” Budde said.
The Federal Communications Commission ended net neutrality rules a few days ago in a 3-2 vote on party lines when it voted to dismantle the Obama-era regulations put in place in 2015 and, simultaneously, also voted to eliminate the legal foundation that gives it oversight over ISPs.
After the decision some media reporting in the US suggested the FCC’s killing of the net neutrality regulations has handed the broadband and wireless industries a big victory in their fight against government oversight of the Internet.
And, as iTWire reported last month the repeal of the regulations could see ISPs given the power to charge websites large sums in order to be granted fast Internet access, whilst websites that do not pay the fees will have access to users slowed considerably.
But FCC chairman chairman Ajit Pai and other Republicans had argued that the Obama-era FCC overstepped its authority with the regulations by reclassifying the ISPs as common carriers.