Internet giants, not broadband providers, are the top threat to consumers

[Commentary] If you are an advertiser, Web publisher, or developer, there is no real competitive choice. You have to use Google for search advertising and Facebook for social advertising if you want to reach the global Internet audience. And if you're a global seller of goods and services, you have to sell wholesale through Amazon, because it offers access to several times more online buyers than any other online retailer. Some will object and say these cloud network providers (CNPs) are not Internet network providers, in part because they are network neutrality allies.

But like Internet service providers, these CNPs lease or own vast networks of fiber and undersea cable connections between their data centers, encryption proxy networks, and video distribution nodes in most every country in the world. In sum, the big four ISPs are not uniquely powerful Internet networks. The evidence overwhelmingly indicates that Internet giants are vastly more powerful in nearly every dimension.

[Scott Cleland is president of Precursor LLC and chairman of NetCompetition]