Net neutrality: Fair to whom?
By UYLESS BLACK
Special to The Press
In the first piece of this report, I wrote that the FCC Chairman, Ajit Pai, stated the FCC intends to loosen rulings so a media market can have ownership of multiple newspapers, radio, and TV stations in any market. Say, the Coeur d’Alene/Spokane market.
How does that idea fit with your preference for reading or viewing contrasting and contesting ideas about local issues, even national politics? How does it fit with your idea of competition, one of America’s social and financial bedrocks?
Will Mr. Pai’s intention of encouraging further consolidation of industries result in the lessening of competition? This is an enormous issue because one of America’s biggest problems is the increasing size and fewer numbers of companies competing with one another.
What does Dennis Wharton’s idea of allowing companies that own TV stations to get bigger have to do with satisfying the consumer? Wharton is the head of the National Association of Broadcasters.
I venture to answer these questions: It would lead to fewer choices and higher prices for the consumer, but less competition and more profits for many of the internet vendors.
Combining multiple TV networks because of the increasing dominance of the internet is going to do nothing to hold back the erosion of the cable and TV industries. Their business model is flawed, even obsolete.
The problem with TV is its excessive advertising and rigid programming. The problems with cable TV companies are (a) their high pricing for (b) rigid services. Recently, I spent several hours examining the offerings and prices of several cable and satellite TV stations. One cable TV company offered me 97 channels, 40 of which were audio music channels. Of the remaining 57, maybe 10 of them were of any interest to me. I was not allowed to pick-and-choose the channels I wanted.
Small wonder I am streaming more from companies such as Netflix and watching fewer programs on conventional television.
Ruling Recommendations
Consolidation of TV, radio, or newspaper companies is not going to save them from the onslaught of the internet. It will only lead to more monopolistic behavior, with the result of fewer services, fewer options, and higher prices for the user.
America has thrived and prospered on competition. The FCC’s proposals for lessening competition would further diffuse this aspect of our country.
Don’t try to save conventional TV, radio, and newspapers from themselves. They can survive and even thrive if they learn to exploit digital technology. And not only the digital technology of the internet, but the digital technologies of metadata, big data, and artificial intelligence (AI). Combined, they can greatly aid the current media in its reaching their customers more effectively.
Returning to the first part of this article: Mr. Pai, you said in one of your statements about the upcoming rulings (see https://www.fcc.gov/restoring-internet-freedom):
“Under my proposal, the federal government will stop micromanaging the internet. Instead, the FCC would simply require internet service providers to be transparent about their practices so that consumers can buy the service plan that’s best for them and entrepreneurs and other small businesses can have the technical information they need to innovate.”
Mr. Pai’s claims are valid only if there is fair competition between all internet vendors. If only one vendor is available in a market, then only one option is available to the consumer.
Any FCC rulings should result in structuring the internet where cable and TV networks can get into the internet-based streaming market (like Hulu and Netflix). This means these companies would become more integrated with internet technology — essentially becoming internet-type systems. I favor such a structuring, for that is the future of the internet.
Furthermore, unless all network vendors can engage in setups like the one that Netflix uses to allow video steaming (called Open Connect caching ... sorry for this jargon), they are being treated unfairly in relation to Netflix.
Mr. Chairman, whatever you decide to do with the internet, keep it neutral regarding blocking, throttling, pricing, and transparency. As well, encourage a culture that fosters competition, not consolidation. Encourage and support an infrastructure that allows all vendors to fairly and transparently use technologies similar to the arrangements Netflix has with other internet vendors.
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Uyless Black was working with the internet when it was called ARPANET. He has consulted and lectured on data networks and the internet in 14 countries and written over 30 books on these subjects. He resides in Hayden with his wife, Holly.