Some classic sound bytes were created during the two-hour keynote session at the TelecomNext trade show in Las Vegas. CNET News.com has an article about the CEOs from Verizon Communications, Disney, Time Warner Cable and NTT who used the forum to stress that "the future of telecom lies in the hands of consumers." Unless, of course, those consumers want to use a third-party VoIP provider instead of traditional telephone service.

The CEOs spoke about hot-button topics like a la carté television programming, net neutrality and piracy. The common theme was: Keep the government out of our business. In general, I agree with this viewpoint. I wrote about my feelings on a la carté programming back in February. But on the topic of net neutrality, I'm afraid the government may have to step in.

The easiest way to short circuit a free market is collusion. The opponents of net neutrality are the cable companies and telecoms, the very companies threatened by third-party VoIP providers. These companies have a stranglehold on broadband Internet access across the country, they represent virtually every option for the consumer. It's impossible to know if the bellyaching of CEOs over the misuse of their pipes will result in tiered pricing. We can only hope that if the government doesn't step into the net-neutrality debate that the broadband-over-powerline market will spread in the U.S. creating a true free market where consumers can tell the cable/telecom cabal that their pipes aren't needed anymore. — Brian Ward

Go to story from CNET News.com
Go to story from America's Network

Technorati tags: TelecomNext, net neutrality.