Net Neutrality in the UK

The idea of content providers paying for access to various ISPs has hopped the pond, with carriers in the UK now clamoring for the BBC to cough up cash to help them grow their facilities. This is the first time the discussion seems to have come up in the UK (at least the first time I've heard it) and it raises some interesting issues, most notably because of the role the BBC plays in this discord. With costs subsidized by the government, the suggesting that the BBC pay for access to bandwidth is effectively a tax on citizens, whether they use the services or not.

This issue came to the forefront recently because of the spike in traffic usage from the BBC based on their release of the iPlayer, an application for streaming content to users. Not only did they release the player, but the Beeb also has made available a TON of content for it. Users have downloaded an estimated 43 million episodes of shows in the first three months, and there are some estimates that the impact on the broadband infrastructure in the UK is averaging 3-5% of total usage. That number is expected to grow, and some are suggesting that the cost to the ISPs to handle the load will exceed $1.5 billion in the coming years.

Obviously the BBC is fighting the notion that they should have to pay, suggesting instead that the ISPs shoulder the cost of handling the increased traffic on their networks, going so far as to suggest that they will note which ISPs provide appropriate bandwidth on their site, an idea that ruffled a few feathers in the ISP community. Ultimately it may be the regulator, Ofcam, that makes a decision on this. Hopefully they stay as far out of the picture as possible, letting the market drive the industry.