The momentum in the Net neutrality debate may be shifting. Proponents maintain that the plans of network operators to create tiered services, with premium prices for content creations that need more and better bandwidth, will degrade the quality of current best-effort services, giving network operators economic control over what their Internet access customers see. They want Congress to pass legislation that prevents network operators from discriminating against Internet content, and Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) has introduced just such a measure.

Between Bell company lobbying efforts in Washington and the growing concern that legislation to preserve Net neutrality could do more harm than good, the effort to get Congress to pass rules regarding open Internet access could well be losing steam.

One voice, that of David Farber, a former chief technologist for the FCC and a noted university professor whose work in distributed computing fueled early Internet development, is calling for an end to the heated debate.

Farber is not taking sides in what he admits is “a complicated mess” but believes it makes more sense for a small group of experts, sponsored by a university, to explore the real issues regarding traffic content on the Internet and how it can be resolved — and possibly even come up with an answer — than it does to get Congress or the FCC involved.

“We can get together under the auspices of CMU (Carnegie Mellon University, where he is currently affiliated) and Penn (his former school), and people can talk and say things they mean without attribution,” he said. “It has to be fast, and it has to inform the congress with a set of facts. If in the process, one comes up with a resolution — happy day. If you don't, you have the facts out.”

Executives at companies such as Global Crossing and even Microsoft, which has been part of Net neutrality petitions, also have started calling for less vitriolic debate.

“We want to have a more middle of the road view,” said Anthony Christie, chief marketing officer for Global Crossing, which counts network operators and content providers among its customers. “What we would rather see, instead of congressional legislation, is to allow commercial negotiations to take place between the players involved.”

“Our goal is to take a balanced view,” said Robbie Bach, president of the entertainment and devices division of Microsoft. “We understand both sides of the issue, and we would like to be a little bit the voice of reason. We would like to see less explosiveness and a little bit more discussion, which generally leads to better outcomes for everybody.”

Albert Cinelli, chairman of Q-Comm Corp., a company building fiber-to-the-premises networks in 11 rural Indiana cities, said Net neutrality legislation would stifle that investment. Cinelli is encouraging CompTel, of which he is a member, to reconsider its stand.

“We are making a big investment to build fiber networks in 11 towns, with plans to add 57 more,” said Cinelli, who wrote members of Congress and offered to testify. “If we can't charge people who are using our network for commercial purposes a fee, we are going to be at a terrible disadvantage. The amount of money we charge our customers for access to the network is totally inadequate to cover the costs of the network.”

Q-Comm believes it can earn a return selling its own services, but a bill such as Biden's would force a change in its plans.

“We'd say it's not worth this investment for us to build a fiber network,” Cinelli said. “We'll become an applications service provider and a VoIP provider and sell our services” over other networks.

NET NEUTRALITY NO-NOs

The heated debate on Net Neutrality has some folks stepping on their tongues.

At a TelecomNext press conference last week, Verizon Executive Vice President Tom Tauke (right) stunned the assembled media when he compared Net neutrality to the war on Iraq. Just as the war has dramatically changed the landscape in that country, leaving everyone to find new roles, so the Internet landscape has been transformed and adjustments must be made, he said.

Later in a TelecomNext keynote, Alltel President Scott Ford (left) said, “Net neutrality makes as much sense as grocery store neutrality or Taco Bell neutrality, where people can eat all they want for $25 per month.”