This reply represents my opinions and is not an official position of WISPA.
There is no official position within WISPA regarding Net Nuetrality that I have ever seen. If there was then we would likely see it on our website and in our filings. The general consensus I have seen is that our focus is best placed in other areas. Nobody in WISPA wants pure Net Neutrality. There is some discussion that many believe that it should be applied to national carriers (those who sell pipes to other providers) to assure that the main pipes feeding WISPs are not turned into tollways for every piece of content. I am of the opinion that the larger national retail broadband carriers (CableCos, Telcos and Cellcos) will do the fighting to beat it no matter what position we take. So picking our battles is where I think we need to be. Net Neutrality is not the biggest obstacle we face. If auctions sell all the prime spectrum to the highest bidders then this is a far bigger obstacle to our future. If an Internet Tax (aka re-purposed USF and / or CAF) are allowed to come into play this will seriously harm WISPs as these will almost certainly be limited to ILECs, RBOCs and CMRS carriers. This will put many WISPs into the unfortunate position of having to collect taxes from their customers and in return seeing none of the money going to them. Worse it will help pay their competitors to put them out of business. So I believe WISPA is fighting more for spectrum issues and is working on how to position themselves regarding Internet Taxes. The USF issue may become tricky as we have many WISP members who are also ILECs and CLECs who would likely support some forms of USF. I am not in that category at all. I want to see ZERO INTERNET TAXES OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER. I have what I believe is an interesting slant that WISPs could benefit from regarding Net Neutrality. At this point there is enough fighting between the larger interests that nobody is really concentrating on an opportunity I feel we can all take advantage of. If we all upgrade our networks to meet Net Neutrality requirements in the future then an interesting benefit happens for our industry. Cellcos look at Net Neutrality as being absolute toxic to their models. They want to control all content and charge a premium for every bit that passes through their over-priced networks. This is their Achilles heal in my opinion. If we were to work toward expanding upstream and backhaul capacity, lowering subs per AP and lowering the bit over-subscription levels on our networks then we could use Net Neutrality principles as a marketing tool to give us an edge over the other alternatives including satellite and cellcos. Interestingly I am of the belief that I hope Net Neutrality fails not because I want to sell premium access to content to my subscribers but because I feel that I can use the idea of equal access to all content to make my service a better option to my customers than satellite or cellcos. In the end it means a more robust network which is always a good thing regardless of whether a regulation tells me to do it or not. Within a year I plan to have my network running at Net Neutrality abilities and at the same time hoping Net Neutrality regulation fails. I am covered either way as I see it. I believe in the long run that those who embrace the equal access principles of Net Neutrality, whether it is mandated or not, will be the carriers of choice by most all customers. I also believe you will see television over broadband becoming more and more prevalent which will be tough to support but will help drive adoption of fixed wireless (those who have robust enough networks to handle the load) in rural areas and fiber in urban deployments. So should WISPA try to fight the Net Neutrality battle or focus on other issues? You guys know where I stand. If anyone wants to be part of the effort to decide what WISPA does then join us. We can use your help. John Scrivner On Sat, Mar 5, 2011 at 10:07 PM, MDK <rea...@muddyfrogwater.us> wrote: > Rick, I didn't take any potshots at anyone. > > I linked a couple of short blurbs on the net.. > > and asked... What's WISPA's official stand or statement? Is there one? > > > > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > Neofast, Inc, Making internet easy > 541-969-8200 509-386-4589 > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > *From:* Rick Harnish <rharn...@wispa.org> > *Sent:* Saturday, March 05, 2011 7:49 AM > *To:* 'WISPA General List' <wireless@wispa.org> > *Subject:* Re: [WISPA] net neutrality... Two articles... > > Mark, > > > > Why don’t you join WISPA and be part of the process instead of taking pot > shots from the “hinterlands”. It is time you stepped up to be counted. > > > > For the record, I am personally “totally against” Network Neutrality; at > least the versions that have been presented thus far. Forcing unmanaged > network content on broadband infrastructure operators will have dire > consequences in the operation of the Internet and the businesses that > provide it. > > > > Rick > > > > *From:* wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] *On > Behalf Of *MDK > *Sent:* Saturday, March 05, 2011 1:09 AM > *To:* WISPA General List > *Subject:* [WISPA] net neutrality... Two articles... > > > > > http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/147121-house-leadership-questions-why-industry-isnt-fighting-in-net-regs?tmpl=component&print=1&page= > > > > Excerpt: > > House GOP Whip Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) convened a meeting of top > communications companies on Wednesday morning, where he questioned why they > are not doing more to help Republicans in the fight against net-neutrality > rules. > > A spokeswoman for McCarthy confirmed the meeting. > > > http://biggovernment.com/nrbrown/2011/03/04/republican-reactive-neutrality/print/ > > Excerpt: > > The facts are that Net Neutrality is not about keeping all the bits equal. > Net Neutrality is about regulatory creep. It’s about controlling the > infrastructure so that the message can be controlled. It’s about things > like Internet Sidewalks<http://www.city-journal.org/html/eon2007-10-18at.html> > [5], and Free Press’ founder Robert McChesneys desire to control > information, have a government takeover of infrastructure, and control what > is available to the people. We know this when he stated, > > “You will never, ever, in any circumstance, win any struggle at any time. > That being said, we have a long way to go. At the moment, the battle over > network neutrality is not to completely eliminate the telephone and cable > companies. We are not at that point yet. But the ultimate goal is to get rid > of the media capitalists in the phone and cable companies and to divest them > from control.” > > > > I asked once... about a year ago. "What side is WISPA on?" > > > > I still can't tell. Are they on the "no regulation is needed, get lost!" > bandwagon, or are they on the "We welcome the chance to have input on your > future plans" bandwagon? > > > > The two roads diverged a while back. > > > > Which is WISPA on? > > > > > > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > Neofast, Inc, Making internet easy > 541-969-8200 509-386-4589 > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > > > ------------------------------ > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > WISPA Wants You! Join today! > http://signup.wispa.org/ > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org > > Subscribe/Unsubscribe: > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless > > Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > WISPA Wants You! Join today! > http://signup.wispa.org/ > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org > > Subscribe/Unsubscribe: > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless > > Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ >
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
