The recent repeal of net neutrality by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seems to have everyone up in arms about the future of the internet.
Will consumers have to pay more money for a connection to the internet? Probably.
Will popular streaming services like Netflix increase membership prices to keep up a faster speed? Most likely.
Will finally be forced to pay to use social media? Possibly.
These are all very likely possibilities if the repeal does actually go through. But one of the questions our team at Locallogy has been dealing with is how will the repeal of net neutrality affect the group most of our clients—and ourselves—are part of: small businesses?
Most small businesses today depend on the internet to deliver products or inform clients on services. With that, they also rely on a free and open internet to keep up with larger businesses that could have an advantage if the internet were to become more expensive.
So with the threat of repealed net neutrality, what does this mean for the future of small businesses?
First off, let’s start with what’s happening.
Net neutrality is a policy that requires internet service providers (ISPs) to offer equal access to web content for all consumers without charging people for faster delivery or giving certain websites preferential treatment.
On December 14, 2017, the FCC voted to repeal these rules, which could potentially allow your ISPs to charge more money if you want better load speeds, among other changes. Most consumers are upset about this repealbecause it means we could no longer have a free and open internet. On the other hand, service providers and the FCC say these regulations limit innovation.
However…
There is a misconception that since the FCC has voted to repeal net neutrality, that’s the end of it. This, however, is not necessarily true. Congress can still vote to override the appeal, which means there’s still a chance net neutrality rules would stay in place. In fact, many statesare already filing to sue the FCC.
If it does get repealed, though, we could see widespread affects for consumers, as well as large and small businesses.
The impact of the total repeal of net neutrality is still somewhat unknown. Larger corporations could see censorship by ISPs, meaning web pages or sites that have content that an ISP doesn’t like could be censored from viewers. This likely wouldn’t affect smaller businesses, but is still a change we quite possible could see.
For small businesses, the most notable change—which is very likely to happen if it does get repealed—is the internet “fast lane” that would be created by ISPs. This would allow websites that pay more money to gain access to faster load speeds, while those who don’t pay have to deliver slower, lower tier speed.
So, bigger businesses with more money can pay to deliver their content to customers at a fast pace, while smaller businesses with less extra money will be forced to have a slower website.
It’s like paying extra for Amazon Prime while those who can’t afford faster shipping have to wait longer for their package to arrive.
For those businesses that may not be able or willing to pay, this will lower competition across the board and possibly cause startup companies to not gain traction because they don’t have the capital to afford the fast lanes.
For small businesses, the fast lane might not directly affect your website, BUT it may affect other indirect areas, like Google search result speeds and how fast people can perform searches. This could cause some drop in traffic as people find alternative searching methods that are faster, or turn to larger companies that can provide faster service.
For us, a company that manages web services for other small businesses, we don’t expect to see an impact on how we do business or how we market our clients’ websites.
Nick Leas, our in-house website designer and developer, has been closely following the net neutrality argument and says he isn’t worried about our clients being affected directly. “There is a possibility that services by Google may increase in costs, but from our end, there will be nothing we can do about it.”
Ultimately, it is the consumer and general public who suffer from the repeal of net neutrality. There will be less competition for internet providers, as well as the possibility of higher fees from companies like Netflix or Hulu. Since those companies will be forced to pay for internet ‘fast-lanes,’ those costs will get passed on to the consumer.
At the end of the day, it’s all about profits for large ISPs, and there’s a major income avenue in making other content providers pay to have their services delivered at the best speed possible.
And while it doesn’t seem likely that small businesses will be harmed directly, there are certainly areas where businesses could see changes in how customers are finding your business—if they’re finding it at all—as well as a drop in business due to the convenience of big businesses that can afford faster service.
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