I’m not crazy about the terminology being used in the discussions about Network Neutrality. On the surface, there is something seductively attractive about a concept like Network Neutrality. Of course users should be able to have any application they want ride across an open IP network, without limitations and interference from the carrier.
But I think we need to look at what is meant by that kind of statement. In an ideal world, no one would interfere with anyone else’s service; all the bandwidth capacity I ever need would be available whenever I needed it. But I don’t believe that is true. I know that my service degrades when my kids get home and start power-gaming or use some bandwidth hogging application.
I have seen our web site slow down when another company hosted with our shared server runs a promotion that drives too much traffic.
Isn’t it reasonable to have some shaping of the traffic to match the requirements of the application? Is there really an evil ‘bandwidth monopolist’ at work if my ISP throttles back traffic destined for file sharing in order to let me access my bank records a little faster – or to allow instant messenger services to be closer to instant messages?
The concept of a truly ‘stupid network’, where networks are unaware of the application, is an interesting academic theory, but I think it ignors economic realities. It only works if either capacity is unlimited or applications self-adjust to allow priority traffic to pass through.
Capacity can’t grow without economic conditions that encourage network development. And communism doesn’t work because human nature motivates individuals to try to try to provide advantage to themselves. In other words, people will always try to grab as much as they can for as little as they can – demand approaches infinity when the price approaches zero.
Rather than consider ‘stupid networks’, I prefer to think of Irrelevant Networks. Applications that can be developed independently of the underlying network facilities. Application developers can develop their own roaming and compensation schemes to address the issue of how they provide universal access to end users.
I am convinced that there are language issues: Network Neutrality versus Open Access. Over-the-top applications versus roaming… I think there is a common ground to be reached, but people have to start talking without the ‘manifesto’ type language getting in the way.