Small Business and Net Neutrality

The Federal Communications Commission plans to create the so-called "fast lanes". The Commission has proposed a rule to allow phone companies and Internet service providers (ISPs) to impose fees on companies in return for providing faster delivery of their content. Internet giants like Google, Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Yahoo have expressed concern with the proposed rule and have sent a letter to FCC criticizing the proposed plan.

The rule, which heavily favors ISPs such as Verizon or Time Warner Cable for example, is undermining the fundamentals of the Internet itself. The concept of "Net Neutrality" states that all content on the Internet is suppose to be treated equally. So that your local restaurant's website loads as fast as Google or Netflix. Nowadays, some sites load faster than the others, but that has to do entirely with the website hosting, rather than your internet service provider.

So what does it all mean for small businesses in the US. Well, it is definitely not a good thing. If the "fast lane" rule is adopted your local business website will load extremely slow. Meaning that your customers will have to wait a few seconds longer to see your content. This means that they will most likely not wait for your site to load and jump to your competitor, who might be able to afford to pay for the "fast lane". Therefore you will lose a potential customer to a much wealthier national or global chain restaurant or store.

Internet companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Yahoo have expressed concern with the proposed rule and have sent a letter to FCC criticizing the plan. They have joined forces with Senator Al Franken, who leads the campaign to get the FCC scrap the "fast lane" plan.