If the Bells block google and other content providers, they will find that regular, decent ISPs gain as the RBOCs are finally forced to pay for their latest abuse of monopoly power after years in which they got away with everything.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Managing Editor [January 13, 2006]

When the CEO of SBC (at&t) suggested that google should pay to access SBC customers, the idea seemed ridiculous. Surely, if SBC blocked google, SBC would lose its customers. But nobody underestimated the depth of SBC's ignorance of the internet or its power to block content. The comment caused general concern.

A recent article on CNN Money, Report: Bells to push for Web fees, that was recommended to us by the sages of the ISP-CEO list, shows that the Bells do intend to try to charge content providers.

One ISP-CEO list member suggested that if at&t says that google should help pay for its infrastrcture, then google could suggest that at&t, which clearly benefits from google, should help pay for google's infrastructure.

Another member asked whether at&t will try to charge the federal government for access to sites, and pointed out that as portions of the internet drop down behind fee-based firewalls, the digital divide grows.

We think that content providers should respond by blocking the RBOCs. Note that this is the position of Alex Goldman and ISP-Planet, but not necessarily the position of any other part of Jupitermedia.

Imagine how users will feel when they realize they need to pay extra to use the web to view movies, play games, and make phone calls. This, in spite of the fact that SBC (at&t) is running a big ad campaign touting its ability to "deliver". This, in spite of the fact that the industry is touting its video plans.

Is at&t going to tell its viewers that they cannot view clips from their favorite soaps? Is Verizon going to deliver music videos to cell phones, where users pay through the nose, but throttle them on wired networks?

If so, independent ISPs offering broadband, especially WISPs, will find new users. In fact, we suspect that independent broadband ISPs with a clear message of network neutrality should be already seeing an uptick in subscribers. Click on feedback at the bottom of this page to tell us about it.

Joy to the independent ISP
Just imagine what would happen if at&t blocked google. The damage to the at&t brand name would be permanent. These companies would lose customers and never get them back. They'd lose future customers too. No college student who uses google every day would ever, in their lifetime, subscribe to a company that had intentionally blocked google.

We've already told you that our home connection is Verizon's CLEC, Verizon Avenue (once called One Point) (see Ethernet Avenue).

But even though we're living in building with Ethernet out of the wall straight to a DSLAM in the basement, if Verizon loses access to google, we'll switch to an independent and pay, say, $86 plus an install fee instead of $19.95 for a high quality pipe that we cannot use. It's just not the internet without google, and we don't have VoIP yet, but we do intend to get it, and understand that the RBOC may try to force us to avoid it.

As Vonage CEO Jeffery Citron told CNN: "They want to charge us for the bandwidth the customer has already paid for. The customer has to pay twice. That's crazy."

Knowledgeable users are constantly worried about RBOC control, even those who like the low prices. Responding to a recent DSL price by Bell South, one Broadband Reports forum poster writes: "kudos to Bellsouth. I will remain a customer as long as their service is stable and they don't put further restrictions on what I can do with my connection. Price drops are always good, though I do sometimes get concerned there may be a 'catch' in the future."

More and more, consumers are being told they don't own what they've already paid for. That's why we buy music CDs only direct from musicians. We know that Sony music CDs are unsafe, and worry that others are also unsafe. We worry the same problem will invade our computer game hobby.

But we know that, as long as there's a free market in the nation we live in, we will be able to switch internet providers, paying a clearly quantifiable price for our freedom.

— End