subject: Should you worry about net neutrality when buying broadband? [print this page] Should you worry about net neutrality when buying broadband?
The question of whether we, as consumers, should be worrying about net neutrality is in some ways a slippery one.
We have been worrying about it for many years already but just under other names - we've asked how likely a broadband provider was to slow down our connection if we were a heavy downloader and how certain providers were likely to treat certain types of traffic.
We've even seen, and celebrated, broadband deals which offer a better connection for online gamers. Prioritising gaming traffic to reduce lag and latency is hardly neutral is it? In fact, it's exactly the opposite.
So what's the difference? Well, in a word: politics.
This is a debate which has more or less blown over the Atlantic.
Campaigners in America have picketed Google to argue for net neutrality and they've also picketed the biggest broadband providers for the same thing. It's seen as a fight between freedom of speech and the right to free (digital) movement and big businesses who want to restrict those freedoms for their own gains.
For example, there is no legislation which directly prevents content providers from paying broadband providers to make their site faster and therefore more attractive to consumers.
Those who have sites which would benefit from a prioritised connection include any site which hosts streaming services but this could just as well apply to almost any site.
That debate is slightly different to here, though, because, if we in the UK picketed our broadband providers, they would be about three people to each provider: we have a lot more choice, albeit choice that is rapidly disappearing, than they do in the United States where there are often only one or two broadband providers available to choose from.
It might not seem like it when choosing between big providers such as Sky or Virgin but there is actually quite a lot of difference in the ways that providers manage traffic and in the differences that consumers see as a result.
For example, the fair use policy has become a fairly well established tool which basically allows broadband providers to throttle - or radically slow down - a broadband connection because they think that the user is using data to an excessive degree.
Are these worth worrying about? At the moment only when you are a very heavy downloader in which case you may find your connection slowed by most providers.
Most providers have stayed away from banning certain applications altogether, although a few do restrict voIP services.
