FCC’s New Rules Fail to Prevent ISPs from Charging Extra for “Fast Lanes”

The FCC has proposed a new set of rules for net neutrality, but critics charge that the agency has left open a back door for abuse by ISPs. The new draft rules prohibit blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization that would benefit some internet platforms and disadvantage others. But despite the objections of advocacy groups, the FCC has refused to ban “positive discrimination,” meaning the establishment of fast lanes for certain kinds of internet traffic.

ISPs can’t charge specific apps more for fast lanes, but they can charge users more

The only limitation is that ISPs can’t charge app providers more for those fast lanes. In other words, ISPs cannot charge the gaming platform Discord a small fortune to get its gaming traffic preferred over other gaming platforms. But ISPs can charge end users more for an internet plan with a faster gaming lane.

Internet Providers Can Use Network Slicing for Higher Prices

The plan by ISPs to charge some users more for priority traffic treatment is clear. AT&T stated these plans for “network slicing” in an April 15 filing with the FCC. AT&T states that network slicing is not a service but a “core component of the 5G standard” and that it can “increase speeds and quality of service.”

Advocacy Groups Requested that the FCC Clarify Policy to Prevent Fast Lanes

Public interest groups had filed a request on March 27 that the FCC close the door to fast lanes.

The American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Open Technology Institute at New America, Public Knowledge, Fight for the Future and the United Church of Christ Media Justic Ministry signed the letter.

The organizations pointed out that AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile have all tested network slicing services. Their filing states that “these network slices could quickly end up taking up the majority of bandwidth subscribers use now to access the internet.”

Net Neutrality Expert Warns Against Fast Lanes

National net neutrality proponent and Stanford law professor Barbara van Schewick stated that “there’s a huge problem” with the new rules. “The proposed rules make it possible for mobile ISPs to start picking applications and putting them in a fast lane—where they’ll perform better generally and much better if the network gets congested,” van Schewick said in a blog post for Stanford’s Center for Internet and Society.

Van Schewick uses the example of future internet provider ads that might promise a user a plan “optimized for YouTube.”

Even though the ISP would not be able to charge YouTube extra for this promotion, the fast lane for higher internet speeds would still grant YouTube a competitive advantage over other video creation platforms.

Van Schewick points out that if mobile ISPs create these kinds of plans with network slicing, cable internet providers won’t be far behind. “This gives ISPs cover to flood the market with various fast-lane offerings, arguing that their version does not violate the no-throttling rule and daring the FCC to prove that it does,” she states.

FCC Vote on April 25

The FCC will vote to confirm the new rules affirming net neutrality on April 25, 2024.