{"id":4631,"date":"2011-04-07T06:03:02","date_gmt":"2011-04-07T10:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/?p=4631"},"modified":"2011-04-06T19:18:48","modified_gmt":"2011-04-06T23:18:48","slug":"what-does-pro-internet-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/?p=4631","title":{"rendered":"What does pro-internet mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open Media is asking candidates to declare themselves as pro-internet<\/a>. It is part of an initiative that has contributed to a raised awareness of digital issues. When I first heard about Open Media’s “pro-internet” campaign, I had to ask<\/a>,”Why wouldn’t you sign on?” After all, as a colleague put it<\/a>, if you aren’t on such a list, you must be a\u00a0Neanderthal. If you aren’t pro-internet, you’re must be against it, right?<\/p>\n

But political candidates should be careful to read the fine print on how “pro-internet” is being defined. The fine print seeks to set Canada apart in the world. Open Media wants candidates to agree<\/a> to have the government regulate retail internet prices:<\/p>\n

By signing up here, you are agreeing to stop the pay meter on our Internet if elected.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What does that mean? If elected, candidates will be expected to stop usage sensitive prices. Sounds good if say it quickly enough, but stop to think about what that means in practice. For the majority of customers, it means that prices will increase. But let’s ignore that for a moment, because there are many who believe that the cost should be borne by shareholders or the government (and if profits decline, then the government will be bearing some of that cost).<\/p>\n

More importantly, eliminating “the meter” means restricting choice for consumers. It means that at whatever speed, service providers would be forbidden from offering an “entry level” service. As I wrote a month ago<\/a>, it means that seniors who may not need unlimited throughput wouldn’t have a choice of a lower price plan at the same speed. For half of Canadian households in the lowest income quintile (who don’t even own a computer, let alone have internet access), Open Media wants politicians to commit to restricting the flexibility of service providers to develop creative price plans to get them connected.<\/p>\n

I wrote an OpEd<\/a> a few weeks ago about why we should resist calls to regulate retail internet pricing:\u00a0Don\u2019t regulate my internet<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Stopping the meter isn’t pro-internet. It is a populist way of demanding retail internet price regulation. The rest of the Open Media candidate commitment, committing “to\u00a0increase broadband access, competition, transparency, and choice”? I’m all in favour. Who isn’t?<\/p>\n

Regulating retail prices won’t increase broadband access and it reduces competition by restricting choice. The pro-internet pledge, as currently phrased with government price regulation, just isn’t pro-internet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Open Media is asking candidates to declare themselves as pro-internet. It is part of an initiative that has contributed to a raised awareness of digital issues. When I first heard about Open Media’s “pro-internet” campaign, I had to ask,”Why wouldn’t you sign on?” After all, as a colleague put it, if you aren’t on such …<\/p>\n

What does pro-internet mean?<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","two_page_speed":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat does pro-internet mean? • Telecom Trends<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Open Media is asking candidates to declare themselves as pro-internet. 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