Innovations in mobile broadband pricing

[Commentary] When a court struck down the Federal Communications Commission’s network neutrality rules, many consumer advocates argued that the result would be less online innovation. But a glance at international markets suggests that the FCC’s one-size-fits-all approach to broadband service may actually have left American consumers with fewer choices and denied them the potential benefits of more innovative broadband pricing models.

This all-or-nothing homogenization of the broadband product placed America increasingly at odds with the rest of the world. This is especially true with regard to mobile broadband. In various parts of the world, customers are offered a variety of alternatives to the unlimited Internet model, many of which are explored at length in the paper. These include: Social Media Plans; Facebook and Google “Free Zones”; and TELUS VoIP partnership.

[Lyons is an assistant professor at Boston College Law School]