The world in front of Internet trends 'two floors'

VoIP services can be lost in the 2-tier Internet trend

Recently, Internet service providers (ISPs) began to break the "neutrality" principle in the network world and switched to "two-tier" Internet - allowing them to prioritize network traffic to compete. with other competitors.

Lawmakers want ISPs to cooperate in investigating cybercrime, parents want them to filter malicious content and customers ask them to block spam . However, the former ISP community has succeeded in only maintain a neutral attitude, ie they will transmit data bits without discrimination, bias or content review. That principle gives service providers a reasonable basis to exempt liability for content going through their system.

Website, e-commerce company . also apply the principle of neutrality to ensure companies, big or small, are still "treated" equally. This measure creates opportunities for firms with the best products and services, not the thickest pockets, to become winners in the market.

Internet customers also enjoy the same benefits because they have more options and access to rich content and applications, regardless of which ISP they are using.

Providers can compete for price, service and speed, while content on the network is always divided equally. Thus, the neutrality principle allows ISPs to invest in depth for infrastructure, increasing competitiveness and providing the ability to access content fairly for Internet users.

Meanwhile, the two-tier Internet means that ISPs can prioritize their content over their networks. This trend is forming in many different forms in the world.

Many countries have blocked Internet telephony services to protect telecom carriers' interests. This method, taking place in countries such as Panama, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Mexico, will narrow the ability to select telecommunications services and deceive customers from one of the most developed areas. Online.

In Europe, some ISPs also began to reject VoIP, as Vodafone has turned the popular Skype program into an "inappropriate content". The American Film Association (MPAA) is also pressuring European suppliers to implement filtering technology to shut down peer-to-peer systems such as BitTorrent, which they claim are "basically helping the idea of ​​downloading and sharing." unauthorized file sharing ". They even proposed to European ISPs to limit the bandwidth customers use.

Recent developments in the US and Canada show that ISPs can go further in developing a two-tier Internet system. For example, Canadian cable service provider Shaw said it would allow customers to use its rival's VoIP service for a monthly subscription while Shaw was free of their own service.

Earlier this year, at least one ISP in the US restricted the opponent's VoIP traffic until the Federal Communications Commission of the country requested that the action be terminated. Telus, another Canadian ISP, also blocked access to more than 600 websites from the US and Australia.

For months, customers of Rogers, Canada's largest cable service provider, said the company had blocked access to the BitTorrent program and downloaded podcasts from the iTunes software. Rogers admits that they have applied priority for online activities. Therefore, the applications that the company puts at a low level of authorization may be deactivated.

However, blocking services, websites and certain applications is not a good solution. Some ISPs see greater revenue potential by charging if customers want to use certain sites and services as a priority.

BellSouth (US) technical director William L Smith recently mentioned a project in which Yahoo could pay more for its website to download faster than Google. BellSouth and AT&T are asking Congress to approve the right to create a two-tier Internet system to compete more effectively than competitors.

This development, though promising to bring some economic benefits, will have a multidimensional impact on Internet firms, users and regulators around the world.