2 edits | Verizon is being pragmatic. Verizon is taking a “soft” position on onerous regulation of the Internet (which goes under the misleading name “network neutrality”) because it realizes that any regulation will hurt its competitors more than it hurts Verizon. Verizon has buildings full of lawyers whose full time job is to deal with red tape and regulation. But small and competitive broadband providers, particularly in rural areas where service is sorely needed, have no such resources and will be driven out of business by such regulations. What’s more, these regulations will hit cable TV providers harder than they will the telcos, because not one cable TV provider owns a “tier 1” Internet backbone. This means that the cable providers actually PAY for their bandwidth, and much of this money actually flows to the telcos. So, while the telcos don’t like the idea of Internet regulation, they also recognize that it will tilt the playing field in their favor and hobble or eliminate competition. None of which is good for consumers or for broadband deployment. But it’s good for Verizon. You will note that the other ILECs are taking similar stances.
By the way, you will note that the article above is not labeled as "op-ed" -- an opinion piece -- but rather as news, even though it is long on speculation and short on facts and contains many disparaging remarks. This is a sad example of the sort of biased reporting that seems to be the norm on this site. |
