Studies say net neutrality regulations will raise broadband prices

‘Net neutrality’ could raise broadband prices [Financial Times]

As the European Parliament considers changes in telecom law, two studies are set to be released that indicate that imposing net neutrality regulations stands to drive up the cost of broadband to consumers. One study has been commissioned by the telecom industry and another was written by the Centre for European Policy Studies.

An industry-commissioned report from consultants at Copenhagen Economics, due to be published next week, is set to warn that imposing net neutrality in Europe will “pass on the cost of scarcity to all consumers” and significantly increase broadband prices. That, in turn, could depress broadband demand.

It appears that Europeans have discovered that creating additional regulations that restrict responsible network management has a deleterious effect on broadband consumers. I'm looking forward to seeing both of these upcoming reports on this issue.

I can't agree more.  Our broadband retail price hasn't changed in years.  And more and more customers are taking advantage of our bundled discounting opportunities so the effective rate of our broadband product is going down every year.  We are managing our business efficiently and effectively for our customers.  No one has been prevented from going to any legal site on the Internet, without government regulation making that our policy.  And we are typical of every cable company I'm familiar with when it comes to neutrality policy. 

When we debate the need for more or less regulation, let's not confuse telecommunications policy with the world financial industry's meltdown.  Our experience is a great example of a consumer success because competition has worked without government intervention.  I agree with the European studies that preemptive regulation will only negatively impact consumers.

Apple Tops Expectations as iPhone Use Spreads [New York Times]

The iPhone's growth continues to the point that Apple is now selling more iPhones than RIM's Blackberry smartphones. Another report I've read about Apple's earnings call yesterday indicates that the iPhone now accounts for nearly 40 percent of Apple's business. 

The iPhone is a product that was introduced only 15 months ago and has become the standard for smartphones. It's even been transformative in bringing more people online through a mobile device. This blog gives me some visibility on this subject:  I see several visits every day from iPhone users in my daily statistics report. 

On another subject, some of you might find it interesting that Firefox is the number two browser used by my visitors -- nearly one in three visitors used it yesterday.  More interesting to me, 55% use cable modems, 20% are unknown connections, and only 15% connect via DSL.  Of course Insight customers are using their cable modems but we do have a substantial readership from outside our service area.  I think the surprisingly low DSL number is reflective of the fact that cable is outperforming DSL by leaps and bounds.

Congress Sends Questions to NTIA [Broadcasting and Cable]

As we move into crunch time for the government's digital converter box coupon program, Congress is asking questions about how much money remains in the coupon program's coffers and whether groups requesting coupons for consumers is helping get coupons in the hands of those who need them. This article has a list of the questions asked by Congress. The agency that administrates the coupon program has until October 31 to submit the answers.

Here's what I said a few days ago about the FCC's need to focus on on this subject.

(FCC Chairman Kevin) Martin is right to worry about this.  It's also a perfect example of why it's absolutely essential that federal policy makers keep their focus on preparing for the digital transition and not get distracted by other long-term policy issues.  This is the time to leave those decisions to the next administration.

Remember.  Focus!  Focus!  Focus!

Major spam bust fails to result in sustained drop in spam [Ars Technica]

Remember my post last Friday about the FBI's shut down of a major spam ring supposedly responsible for up to one-third of all spam? The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the expected decrease in spam traffic has not happened. While no one actually knows why spam hasn't decreased, there are a couple of theories. One theory goes that the spam ring just transferred the operating authority of the spamming botnet to another group, so the spam continues to be churned out. Others are theorizing that the group's spam botnet is simply set to autopilot and is continuing to send out spam without any human intervention.

I don't yet have a report from our network management folks but I don't think we've seen a drop off either.  Too bad.