Net Neutrality rules were put in place to ensure that the Internet stayed a public network and that users had open and equal access to all content on the Internet. With the 2017 ruling set to rollback the rules on governing our Internet, many are worried for the privatizing of the Internet and the future of a two-tiered pay-to-play service that offers a “fast lane” users can pay a fee for to get better service or a be stuck with a “slow lane.”
While I believe that we are headed to an Internet lane split with the rollback, I predict it will go even further than two lanes and we will see a multi-lane highway created. Because users are consuming the Internet in so many facts of our daily personla and work lives, I see two diverging paths of the Internet: one that is for individuals and one for corporate, which will be broken into various networks based on the Internet’s role. Below is a further breakdown on what this multi-lane Internet highway might look like.
Lane 1: The Streaming Generation’s Internet
There is a radical shift in how individuals, especially teens and millennials, are getting access to their content using Internet streaming services. This encompasses everything from TV shows and movies on services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime to music platforms like Spotify and Pandora. These are now the go-to services for consumers, but streaming is expensive. However, it’s not expensive for the streaming companies – only the Internet service providers, as they are the ones supplying the bandwidth infrastructure without getting any money from it. As such, I predict this will become a dedicated paid network lane where streaming services companies must pay the Internet companies, such as Comcast, a fee to support the streaming bandwidth for consumers. While the end user will most likely not see a direct upcharge to use this Internet lane, it will trickle down to the end user in increased account and subscription fees to continue accessing these streaming services.
Lane 2: The Corporate Network
The Internet is now an essential tool in how businesses communicate among themselves and their customers. Having enterprise mobility and anytime, anywhere access to complete work is fully ingrained in how they operate. As such, the corporations are going to demand their own Internet network purely dedicated to accessing their applications like Office 365, Google Docs, Dropbox, etc., so there is no lag time or need to compete with other individuals streaming services or using the Internet. This will help increase efficiency for corporations and their employees.
Lane 3: eCommerce
How do you feel about all the advertising you currently see as you browse the Internet? If you say ugh too much, get ready because this will only be the beginning. There will be a pay-to-play eCommerce Internet channel coming that will direct users to companies and products without giving them options to search freely. While users themselves will not have to pay to use this Internet channel, companies will pay a fee to make their products show up first over their competitors. Unfortunately, this eCommerce channel will no longer focus on the consumer experience, but rather push sales for big corporations who can buy their way to the front.
Lane 4: Private Shopping
Since one Internet lane will now be dedicated to eCommerce companies and directing people to the stores they want users to buy from, there will be another private shopping Internet lane that people can pay for to search and shop freely without being pushed to the ads and dedicated stores/services the broadband customers want to direct you to. Unfortunately, this will become our sad reality that we will have to pay to use the Internet in the way we want to. Essentially, we will be paying for a private shopping portal fee, as if we would have to pay a fee to enter a mall, in order to not be forced into having choices being made for us.
While we have no way of knowing just how the Net Neutrality rollback will impact the Internet, one thing that will be clear is that those with economic self-interest like the broadband service providers and major corporations will be the ones who stand to benefit the most from the rollback.
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