The Net neutrality debate has come to a boil, and telecom executives have had the chance to fight back this week at the TelecomNext trade show in Las Vegas. AT&T CEO Ed Whitacre dismissed fears that
his and other companies might block traffic to certain Web sites on their networks as ludicrous. "Any provider that blocks access to content is inviting customers to find another provider," he said
during his keynote speech. "And that's just bad business." Any provider that did that would simply be punished by the market, he said. Later, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin pointed out that existing
regulations wouldn't allow network operators to block access anyway. However, telecom companies do plan a so-called second lane superhighway for video content requiring more bandwidth, which they
would charge media companies to use on their networks. The companies maintain that they need to charge more because of the hefty cost of upgrading their networks. Legislators, Web content providers,
and consumer activist groups fear network operators may abuse their control of their network.
Read the whole story at Cnet News.com »
