Net Access Should be for Every One At Affordable Price

Federal Communication Commission(FCC) in USA has recently  given  a landmark decision whereby the  telecommunications carriers, and interconnected providers of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, had to protect “customer proprietary network information,” or CPNI. CPNI which includes some of the most sensitive personal information that carriers and providers possess(es) about their customers as a result of their business relationship (e.g., phone numbers called; the frequency, duration, and timing of such calls; and any services purchased by the consumer, such as call waiting). To protect consumer privacy, the Commission’s rules require carriers/providers to file reports, annually, to certify their compliance with the CPNI rules.

The US Enforcement Bureau recently took enforcement action and proposed fines against carriers/providers failed to comply, and issued an advisory to remind carriers/providers of their obligations.

Internet Services have become necessity for every one just like water, air, transport. If that’s true for you, and for me, it’s no doubt true for most everyone else. And if we agree on that, don’t we also agree that everyone has the right to unfettered net access at a fair, affordable price? And if we agree on that, doesn’t it also follow that our rules and regulations covering the internet should help ensure that, and not reserve the best net access for only the folks with the most money and influence?

And, on the flip side, shouldn’t those regulations also help ensure that all the web content creators and online retailers and just plain citizens can use the internet to reach their audiences without some rich, connected competitor hogging the fast lanes and leaving only second-tier connections for everyone else. 

Last month’s appeals court decision upholding the FCC’s net neutrality rules make perfect sense. On June 14, the U.S.Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit had the authority to classify broadband internet service as a utility, like electricity, subject to regulation for the public good.

As expected, Telecom  companies and ISPs vowed to fight the ruling all the way to the Supreme Court, and I have no doubt they will do that. But let me ask them one critical question: Are they willing to live without fast and affordable broadband internet service?


When asked, “What’s one network improvement CIOs are missing out on that they should do right now?,”


If the net is just a luxury, well then surely the net neutrality objectors would be willing to go without it if the Telecom  companies and ISPs didn’t happen to find it economic to deliver to them. And if they were running a business, they’d be fine if the one ISP in their area didn’t want to give fast access to their credit card verification service because provider had a deal with a competitor. Similarly, they’d be perfectly fine if the Telecom  companies and ISPs wanted to slow down their content in favor of someone else’s words and pictures.

And if not, why are they so willing to let other folks do without?

That’s not how opponents frame the net neutrality argument, of course, but I believe that’s really what it comes down to.

Telecom providers in India also tried to play the similar tricks but due to strong opposition from enlighten net users, they had to retreat back.But there is a  need for strong legislation also similar to US FCC in our country.  

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