neutrality debate is expected to be completely satisfied with the outcome. According to Marguerite Reardon of cnet, Chairman of the FCC, Julius Genachowski, has set a date for December 21.
Genachowski said during his speech that the proposal will allow broadband providers to impose usage-based charges so that customers using more bandwidth would get charged more than customers using less. The FCC will also allow providers to experiment with offering specialized services that could provide higher-quality access to consumers rather than sending applications and content over the public Internet.
Broadband providers will also be required to justify why these services require dedicated bandwidth rather than being delivered over the public Internet. And broadband companies cannot discriminate against traffic on the public Internet in favor of their own services or their customers' premium services.
The new proposal will also treat wireless networks differently than wired networks with respect to Net neutrality. Wired broadband providers will be "prohibited from blocking lawful content, applications, services and the connection of nonharmful devices to the network," and they will be subject to transparency requirements as to how their networks are managed.
Wireless service providers will also be subject to the transparency requirement. And they will also not be able to block or degrade most traffic, such as Web sites and certain applications. But Genachowski said he recognizes "differences between fixed and mobile broadband," and therefore believes the rules should be more flexible for wireless.
The new proposal is not likely to satisfy either side in the debate. Broadband providers are likely to still find some of the provisions too restrictive. Some companies have suggested that Congress should write new rules and make them law rather than having the FCC handle it. Consumer groups are also not likely to be satisfied with the outcome, because they were looking for the FCC to do more.
However these new proposals are met with some opposition. As reported by npr, "No one was particularly happy with what the FCC chairman is proposing. But that doesn't mean it's not the right answer," says Kevin Werbach, professor at the Wharton School, and a former technology consultant to the Obama administration.
I guess we just have to wait and see what happens at the end of this month.
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