Net gains, losses and ties

HYPERBOLE MAY BE THE NATIVE LANGUAGE of Washington lobbyists, but the debate over regulating high-speed Internet providers has unleashed a rare apocalyptic synchronicity. Both sides make the same dire warning: The future of the Internet is at stake. And both respond in the wrong way.

At issue is whether broadband providers will be able to offer websites and services a faster route into their customers’ homes and offices. Some want to prioritize traffic on the last mile for a fee. This way, they say, Web-based companies can ensure the quality of the movies, music and other services they deliver online. It also would help broadband providers raise the money they say they need to keep up with the growing demand for space on their networks.

This kind of prioritizing scares some high-tech firms and advocacy groups, which worry about phone and cable companies picking winners and losers online. Such interference, they say, would stifle innovation by making it harder for start-ups and interest groups to compete with well-funded media powerhouses. They want Congress to preserve “network neutrality” by banning network operators from prioritizing data in a discriminatory way.

As we’ve said before, the best protection for websites and Internet users is to have more broadband providers competing with the phone and cable companies. Until that happens, notwithstanding the fiery rhetoric by both sides, there is a way to split the baby. Cable operators already divide their wires into two sections: one for prioritized data, which is used for television and related services, and another for Internet access. As phone companies add capacity to their networks, they should be able to take a similar path.

This approach is also consistent with what Internet users expect when they sign up for broadband. Having paid a premium for better Internet access, they don’t want their broadband provider cutting deals that could put their favorite sites at the tail end of the pipe. Meanwhile, Web-based companies shouldn’t be forced to pay more just to continue delivering the experience they deliver today.

Unfortunately, that’s not the route taken by the House earlier this month when it passed a bill to make it easier for phone companies to offer cable TV-like services. The Senate Commerce Committee is about to take up an even less attractive alternative that would provide a weak guarantee of users’ rights but no protection for websites against discrimination by broadband providers.

Opponents of net neutrality have carried the day so far on Capitol Hill, arguing that all the evils associated with prioritization are merely hypothetical. Not to be hyperbolic ourselves, but the same argument would rule out missile defense systems. The Internet is a hotbed of innovation largely because there are no barriers to entry on the last mile. Broadband providers should be free to experiment as they add capacity, but not at the expense of the Internet access they deliver to customers today.