Amazon Cautions Congress About Data Caps, Specialized Services

Amazon exec Paul Misener plans to tell Congress that while bandwidth pricing is OK, unreasonable caps are not and neither are specialized services that disadvantage competition.

According to a summary of Misener's written testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee April 24, Misener says that "although subscribers should pay for the bandwidth they use immutable or unrealistically priced data caps could hinder or prevent competitive products and services made possible by online video." He also warns that so-called specialized services -- ones that do not travel over the public Internet and are not subject to Federal Communications Commission network neutrality rules -- need to be watched carefully to insure they don't "impede" the growth of online delivery and are not offered on unequal terms. He says that inequality would be more pronounced in rural areas where alternative choices are more limited.