Factbox: Potential winners/losers from U.S. Internet rules
(Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission is expected to adopt Internet traffic rules on Tuesday.
They would ban the blocking of lawful content, but allow high-speed Internet providers to manage their networks. Wireless carriers got additional network management freedoms.
The following are expected winners and losers under this framework based on reports from analysts and industry insiders.
INTERNET PROVIDERS - WINNERS
* Cable companies like Comcast Corp, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision Systems Corp and big landline providers like AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc
* The rules will not stand in the way of usage-based pricing, allowing cable and other fixed line companies that also serve as high-speed Internet providers to increase rates for subscribers that do bandwidth-heavy tasks.
* Cable subscribers considering dropping their TV service to watch television and movies online may think twice if new pricing schemes push up the cost of streaming content.
WIRELESS CARRIERS - WINNERS
* Verizon Wireless (joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc), AT&T, Sprint Nextel Corp, T-Mobile (U.S. unit of Deutsche Telekom AG)
* Wireless carriers would be granted added flexibility under the rules, which acknowledge the tighter bandwidth-constraints mobile broadband faces.
* They would be subject to a looser version of the no-blocking policy, which only bans the blocking of websites and competing voice and video services.
* Mobile broadband could still discriminate against bandwidth-heavy content.
CONTENT PROVIDERS - LOSERS
* Google Inc, Microsoft Corp, Amazon.com, Facebook, Netflix Inc
* Video content providers may lose some of the edge they were building over cable companies if downloading content becomes more expensive under usage-based pricing.
* Mobile broadband is not subject to as many network management restrictions as wireline services, creating fewer protections for mobile applications.
INTERNET USERS/CONSUMERS - MIXED
* Public interest groups Free Press, Public Knowledge and the Media Access Project all complained that the rules would give Internet providers too much power over Internet users.
* This is particularly worrisome, they said, for the poor and minorities who use their cell phones as a primary tool to access the Internet.
* But some industry analysts say the rules will prevent network congestion and allow companies to make sufficient money to invest in upgrading their networks.
FCC - MIXED
* Adopting the rules will complete a time-consuming rule-making that has been hanging over the agency's head but many experts expect court challenges.
* And the rules seem certain to provoke greater oversight of the agency by Republican lawmakers who will control the U.S. House of Representatives come January.
(Compiled by Jasmin Melvin; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
Credit: Reuters (www.reuters.com)
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