Google and telecoms giant Verizon are close to striking a deal that could potentially end the idea of net neutrality, according to reports. Net neutrality is the notion that all online content is treated equally.
According to AP the two firms have been in discussion for ten months and a deal could be announced within the next few days.
The report states that online content providers – such as Google-owned YouTube – would be able to pay ISPs to prioritise their traffic to ensure that users always have high-speed access to the service.
Critics of deals such as this believe that ISPs could also start charging Internet users for priority access or possibly slow down bandwidth-hogging sites and applications, such as video and music streaming services and VoIP platforms like Skype.
ISPs however argue that they need to generate a return on their network investment and be able to manage network traffic so that no users suffer due to high-bandwidth applications.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has long argued for net neutrality but despite plenty of dialogue, including with Google and Verizon, it has yet to reach a deal. Verizon is still keen on talking to the FCC, and is "optimistic this process will reach a consensus that can maintain an open Internet and the investment and innovation required to sustain it," AP quotes a Verizon statement as saying.
Content from our partners
Google too has claimed to be behind the idea of net neutrality. On its official blog earlier this year the firm said: "There’s a lot of awesome stuff on the Internet [that is] possible because of the openness of the Internet. An open Internet made Google possible eleven years ago, and it’s going to make the next Google possible. Our goal is straightforward: "to keep the Internet awesome for everybody"."
Speaking to reporters at a tech conference in the US, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said: "We have been talking to Verizon for a long time about trying to get an agreement on what the definition of ‘net neutrality’ is. We are trying to find solutions that bridge between the hard core ‘net neutrality or else’ view and the historical telecom view of no such agreement."
"If you have one data type like video, you don’t discriminate against one person’s video in favour of another but it’s OK to discriminate across different types. You could prioritise voice over video and there is general agreement with Verizon and Google on that issue," he added.
