Citron wants A Broadband Bill of Rights
In light of growing worries about packet blocking by network operators, Vonage CEO Jeff Citron is looking for the U.S. government to introduce a Broadband Bill of Rights. It's based on the idea that consumers have the right to use broadband service in any way they desire - whether it's music, e-mail, voice or Web browsing services.
“I'm not a proponent of legislation but in this case the public needs to have something that gives you the right to use broadband any way you see fit,” he said.
Citron's call for a BBoR is not a surprise given Voange has complained about its service being blocked. The FCC recently hit Madison River Communications with a $15,000 fine for blocking Vonage traffic. While many large network operators have vowed they have no plans to block third-party applications/service, there is no guarantee it won't start to happen when the Web-based services business starts to see strong growth.
Without legislation, Citron said there's the real danger that network owners will block anything they see as a competitive threat - be it a voice service or a Web site. While Citron's call for a BBoR is self-serving, he is putting the spotlight on a potentially troubling and dangerous issue that could deal the Web a serious blow. I'm not sure legislation is the way to go but there needs to be clear regulations in place and tough penalties for anyone who engages in packet blocking or re-prioritization.
In QoS-related news, the Yankee Group believes Vonage's share of the U.S. Internet telephony market will tumble from 66% to 19% by year-end as cablecos rumble into the business. Yankee said a big problem for Vonage and alternative providers such as Packet8 and Lingo — is that they ride over broadband networks controlled by other companies.
“Unless they strike a deal with broadband providers and others, they can't guarantee time-sensitive voice packets are given priority over other data, such as someone's illegal movie download,” the research firm said. “That could result in poor call quality.”
