One Skidoo Ride Closer to the Web Balkans

According to this Washington Post article, big players inthe US networking game are whining over bandwidth usage by large volume sites like Google. I wrote about this before. The telcos are going to continue to try to roll out services and keep people with their own networks. It's going to fail. While they are correct that they footing the bill for transmitting requests to the doorsteps of others. It's like a taxi that charges 1 out of 10 customers for their ride. Ninety percent of the people get a free ride, but that one schmoe pays $120 for his trip downtown. That's the dynamic: the service providers are still making money at the game, but they want more. The FCC has weighed in that network neutrality has to be maintained-- that the service providers cannot show bias toward traffic conduited through their networks. They'll find a way to skirt the rules. I remember when the CRTC leaned on BC Tel (Telus) and prevented service fee hikes. Telus responded by installing new phones sans faceplates-- just your wall jack dangling out of the wall. If the network providers get their way to botch neutral networking, we'll be left with our jacks dangling.

tags: Balkanization, Google, SBC, Telus