EuroWire July 2017

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Telecom
In Washington the charged issue of net
neutrality is back, with opponents of the
strict Obama-era rules now in the driver seat
US regulators on 18th May took the rst formal step toward
repealing tough net neutrality rules enacted two years
previously during the presidency of Barack Obama – rules
which introduced strict oversight of Internet service providers
to ensure the free ow of online content. The prospect of the
dismantling, enthusiastically welcomed by major broadband
providers, is strongly opposed by consumer advocates and
lawmakers of Mr Obama’s Democratic party. The net neutrality
rules prohibit Internet service providers from blocking websites,
slowing connection speeds, and charging extra for faster
delivery of certain content. To facilitate enforcement, the FCC
in 2015 classi ed broadband as a utility-like service under
telecommunications law.
Writing from Washington DC in the Los Angeles Times, Jim
Puzzanghera observed that the intended reversal by the newly
Republican-controlled Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) is part of a broader e ort under President Donald
Trump to undo regulations promoted by Mr Obama. FCC
chairman Ajit Pai said the goal of his agency is to return to the
looser regulatory framework of the early days of the Internet.
(“’Light-touch’ Regulations: FCC Takes Step to Repeal Tough
Net Neutrality Rules,” 18th May). Supporters of strict government
oversight assert that it is essential to preserving ready access to
high-speed Internet. Senator Kamala Harris, a California Democrat,
told Mr Puzzanghera, “Those net neutrality rules guarantee that
gatekeepers to the Internet cannot tilt the competitive playing
eld.”
A nal vote in the FCC is not likely before winter, but the
makeup of the three-person agency – two Republicans and
one Democrat – favours repeal of the net neutrality rules.
Meanwhile, public controversy has been heating up. In the
view of the Trump appointee Mr Pai, now the nation’s top
telecommunications regulator, the current rules give regulators
too much control over the Internet and have led to reduced
investment in broadband networks. As the Los Angeles Times
pointed out, the evidence on this is open to dispute.
John Oliver redux
One of the loudest and most in uential disputants is the
cerebral British-American cable TV host John Oliver, whose
appeal to his viewers to besiege the FCC with their protests was
a major factor in the passage of the net neutrality rules. Battle
lines between Messrs Pai and Oliver have been drawn in the
current fracas. No doubt in anticipation of another tsunami of
support for the rules during the public comment phase of the
review process, Mr Pai said, “As in any FCC rule-making what
matters most is the quality of the comments, not the quantity.”
† But the civic-minded Mr Oliver is known for quality – in his
grasp of the issues as much as for his presentation. On 17th
May, Mr Puzzanghera reported that, in the three weeks
since the FCC began accepting public comments, more
than 1.6 million of them had been submitted. Many of these
were inspired by another net neutrality segment on “Last
Week Tonight with John Oliver,” aired 7th May. Now, as in
2014 when the issue rst came to the boil, a majority of the
respondents are believed to favour retaining the tough rules.
Industrial Internet of Things awareness has
accelerated in the last year, but identifying
opportunities is a stumbling block
According to the results of a survey of 374 manufacturers
worldwide undertaken by the MPI Group late last year and
published this spring, the industrial Internet of Things (IoT) has
gathered steam. As reported by Ian Scales of TelecomTV, the
2017 survey is a follow-up to one conducted by MPI (Sunnyvale,
California) a year earlier. Those results disclosed that a full
two-thirds of the executives polled were without an IoT strategy.
That proportion has ipped, noted Mr Scales, with two-thirds
of the respondents now saying they have an IoT strategy and
many reporting that they already have seen concrete results.
(“Industrial Internet Suddenly Fires Up: Executives Claim
Productivity and Pro t Gains,” 16th May). The 2017 study looked
at the production of smart devices and the implementation of
embedded intelligence within plants, processes and products
of manufacturers around the world. While many smaller
manufacturers are still unsure how to get started, MPI Group
CEO John R Brandt told TelecomTV , “There’s been a dramatic
jump in awareness.”
Among the mixed results the good news predominates:
† Implementation is up, with 50 per cent of production
processes now using the IoT, and 68 per cent of the
manufacturers reporting plans to embed smart devices or
intelligence into their products;
† Seventy-two per cent of the interviewees reported increased
productivity from application of the IoT to plants and
processes; 69 per cent, increased pro tability;
† Sixty- ve per cent of the respondents reported increased
pro tability from sales of IoT-enabled products (eg
embedded intelligence).
Transatlantic Cable
Image: www.bigstockphoto.com Photographer Zsolt Ercsel
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