Net Neutrality: Opportunities and Challenges.

HoC Committee Room 19, 29th March 6.30-8.30pm

This was a packed event with public and parliamentarians filling the room to listen to a very knowledgeable panel argue the case for or against more regulation of the Internet: Rob Reid (Which?), Robert Hammond, (Consumer Focus), Kip Meek (Everything Everywhere), James Heath (The BBC), Jim Killock (Open Rights Group), Dominique Lazanski (Tax Payers Alliance). Chair: Eric Joyce MP. There were some equally knowledgeable people in the audience, see James Firth’s blog post about this event. It  is also useful to take a look at the Adjournment debate on Net Neutrality  held in the HoC on 05/04/11.

Rob Reid spoke first followed by Robert Hammond. They have published a joint statement on maintaining an open internet. Read the briefing provided for the deappg here: see a video clip of Rob speaking here and Robert speaking here. Rob talked about research Which? had carried out, showing that Internet users were concerned about ISPs because they had failed to keep customers informed about traffic management policies and patterns. Rob and Robert talked about the need for a voluntary code for best practice, for example with switching requests, because customer satisfaction with the  biggest three ISPs is not good. There was general agreement with this point in the room, summed up best by Jean-Jaques: ” consumers can’t switch because they don’t understand a) how to switch b) what the service is and c) how connectivity actually works”. Some also felt that Ofcom could offer better advice to consumers on switching. Issues of transparency were expanded on by several speakers during the event.

Jean-Jaques has also provided the deappg with a statement: read his briefing paper here. He argues strongly for  an open Internet in order to maintain the present pace of digital innovation. He wants to see regulations which will remove mobile access restrictions and unfair traffic management policies. He used the example of video conferencing which is a mainly untapped resource with which businesses can better connect people up, be more creative, and save on organisational costs.

Jim Killock  agreed with Jean-Jaques that innovation on the internet was slowing because of certain dominant services such as iTunes. He argued for more regulation because it was clear that ISPs, fixed line and mobile broadband providers  were now involved in content delivery, content policing and traffic management which is likely to include a larger role as a censor (web blocking). The public do not understand why services they have paid for are ‘throttled’ by ISPs. Ofcom should intervene more if self regulation does not  deliver better internet services for the consumer. You may want to take a look at the Open Rights Group campaign to prevent web blocking.

Kip Meek a senior policy advisor to one of the largest  ISPs, Everything Everywhere, disagreed with Jim Killock and Jean-Jaques. He did not recognise  their view of slowed innovation, in fact he saw many new possibilities for using fixed and mobile broadband technology. He also felt that the conversation so far had not covered the big issues, which were really about infrastructure: Spectrum for improving mobile services and more fibre for superfast services. He felt that the  European directive on communications was effective in helping the UK to deal with all of it’s internet problems, however, ISPs needed further incentives for investment in infrastructure because consumer and commercial demand for better services will continue to outstrip connectivity. See Kip speak here. Dominique Lasanski  was also concerned about the unintended consequences of further regulation of the internet. She wanted to see more competition  among digital businesses and  let the market bring changes that digital regulation can not possibly keep up with.

James Heath gave a different slant again by describing what a major content provider like the BBC needs from the internet. He spoke passionately about the value of the Internet to the public, in many ways matching what the first two speakers said about the huge social and economic benefits of the Internet.  He  felt the essence of this debate was with two issues: high quality services and better transparency. He wanted  to see more premium services but not at the expense of good access generally. In other words faster services should not over-ride fair services. The BBC has worked closely with ISPs to improve connectivity and manage their services on the back of creating demand for digital content. Hear more from James here.