Fergie's Tech Blog

U.S. Finance Sector Weighs In on Net Neutrality

And you can probably bet that where the money and financing goes, so goeth the issue.

Kristen Roberts writes for Reuters:

The U.S. financial sector, a powerful force in Washington, may be gearing up to jump into a Capitol Hill fight over the future of the Internet and stop an effort it says could add billions in costs just to maintain current offerings.

The issue is "Net neutrality" -- a battle so far contained between high-speed Internet broadband operators and companies with online product offerings, such as Amazon.com.

Broadband providers such as AT&T Inc., BellSouth Corp., and Verizon Communications want to expand from flat pricing and also sell tiers of service based on the speed, reliability and security of the bandwidth used.

While those providers have said they would not block access to the open Internet, companies that use the Internet to sell products or services want Congress to adopt stricter safeguards to ensure they are not pushed into a slower lane of the Internet if they do not pay more for dedicated network service.

For the financial services sector, which is expected to spend $117 billion on information technology this year, tiered pricing could add billions more in expenses to maintain online banking services and other Web offerings -- costs that could hit the bottom line or be passed on to customers.

But it's a fight the financial sector almost missed.

posted by Fergie @ 5/02/2006 10:09:00 AM