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Net Neutrality and the Battle for VoIP

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Net Neutrality and the Battle for VoIP

By: Andrew Wiggin

For astute observers of the Internet landscape over the past decade or so, fewer issues have been as hotly debated over as net neutrality. Simply put, net neutrality means telcos have to treat all traffic over the Internet in the same way. This isn't as obvious as it seems and many communication firms are actively against it - they wish to charge people not based on how much bandwidth they're using, but what they're using. It's pretty clear to industry watchers that they wish to do this only because they can - not because it's the right thing to do.

For example, if my electricity company could somehow determine which device I'm running with the power I buy from them, they can charge me more for using a toaster brand which they dislike instead of one they like. That sounds outrageous, but somehow they seem to think the Internet is different. That they have the right to charge consumers based on what they use it for and not how much of it they use.

This has direct implications for the adoption of VoIP. In its current form, VoIP threatens the traditional revenue stream of telecom companies. Not only are people making more calls over the Internet, they're also using third party services in order to send SMSs for free. Providers all over the world have seen their revenues fall dramatically as a result and they're not happy about it. Just recently, the leading telecom provider in the Netherlands called KPN announced plans which would charge people extra for using VoIP services like Skype by using deep packet inspection and finding out what applications people are using on their Internet connection.

Somehow, telcos would love to turn the clock back and stop the Internet in its tracks when it wasn't so powerful. When people were still open to the idea of being charged depending on what they use instead of how much of it. But it's too late now. In response to KPNs plans to charge people more for VoIP, the dutch government is about to introduce a law that makes charging extra for different types of Internet traffic illegal.

Sadly, the war in the US regarding net neutrality is far from won. The FCC is struggling to classify Internet services as a "utility" which would give it the power to enforce true net neutrality. But heavy lobbying from the telecom companies makes this an uphill task.

Personally I feel it's way too late to go back now. People know what an unfettered Internet is like and they're unlikely to ever look at things differently again.

Article Source: http://articles.tiptopweb.info

Andrew Wiggin is an expert consultant on Secure SIP Proxy Servers. He also specializes in Mobile VoIP Phone Reviews. www.onsip.com/sip/sip-proxy-server www.onsip.com/onsip-team-reviews

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