Google Calls for Unified Front in Net Neutrality Battle

What in the world is a top exec from search engine giant Google Inc. (GOOG) doing speaking at a trade association for competitive carriers and ISPs this week?

The answer is actually quite simple.

When the topic is net neutrality/network management, web giants like Google have just as much to gain and lose as traditional service providers — and perhaps more.

“If we all work together to drive a consensus approach on net neutrality to Congress it could help us fuel action that would benefit us in delivering services to our customers without last-mile issues,” said Rick Whitt, Google’s Washington Telecom and Media Counsel. “Whether it’s Covad, Level 3 or Google, we’re all in the same boat.”

He’ll be joined in the session by Jonathan Lee, head of JD Lee Consulting.

“Forging an alliance of public interest groups, CLECs, ISPs and web companies would help the next presidential administration, and others, realize that net neutrality is not just something that popped up a year or two ago. It’s an end game and an environmental condition,” said Whitt.

The former longtime vice president of federal law and policy for MCI believes the combination of a new administration and increasingly heightened interest in net neutrality from Congress could provide a golden opportunity for such an alliance to make a strong case for action.

“We need new policy that strengthens the rights of CLECs and ISPs,” continued Whitt. “Limiting use, setting limits, capping use and metering usage are completely counterproductive to the widely shared goal of getting more people to use the Internet.”

For its part, Google is all about big bandwidth, owning top video sharing site YouTube Inc. and supporting capacity demanding applications. The company last month announced the beta launch of Chrome, a web browser it built from the ground up, to better handle complicated, interactive web applications.

Whitt’s comments are in reference to a recent plan announced by Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) after the company was caught throttling peer-to-peer traffic. The plan essentially would disconnect users that exceed a certain bandwidth limit.

“I fully understand that operators need to perform network bandwidth management,” Whitt said. “But you have to do it, along with pricing, in a way that just deters the few that are using excessive amounts of bandwidth.”

But if operators decide not to manage bandwidth this way and apply restrictions, they’re actually using the situation as a competitive weapon, said the legal expert. That would be one that adversely impacts more than just ISPs and CLECs.

Hence, Google’s appearance at COMPTEL...

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