Wireless Plans Add New Twist to Network Neutrality Debate

While federal communications regulators have been writing rules of the road for how broadband providers can treat traffic on wired networks, wireless providers have been building private little speedways.

The new, low-cost wireless plans with unlimited access to certain apps that don't count against a user's data limit are adding a new dimension to the net neutrality debate. Wireless carriers say the plans are a cheap way for people to keep in touch with friends and family. But such plans can limit users to only a small slice of the Internet -- and they are becoming more common just as the Federal Communications Commission is considering rules to determine how open the Internet should be.

Advocates of strict net neutrality rules want the plans banned under the FCC's new rules for broadband providers. Stanford Law Professor Barbara van Schewick said the plans allow wireless carriers to pick winners and losers among apps. In Europe and Latin America, regulators in some countries are moving to ban them.