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Carrier surcharges OK with FCC chair?
If I am correctly reading comments made at CES by FCC chair Kevin Martin, he seems to be saying that it will be just fine if the big high-speed broadband Internet monopolies assess carriage surcharges for high-volume services and websites. Just as long as the broadband service providers don't block this content.
"(I would) be concerned if you talked about network providers blocking access to content that consumers want," he said.
But then Martin said that service providers should be allowed to charge differing amounts for varying bandwidth.
So let me get this straight. In Kevin Martin's world, the broadband providers can't block high-bandwidth services. They would only be allowed to assess them a fee.
But what if, say I am a competing VoIP provider that refuses to pay a broadband ISP a fee? Will they then be able to block me based on a fine-print provision in a forthcoming bill or FCC regulation?
Now you see why the nation's capital is crawling with telecommunications lawyers and lobbyists.