Sidecut Reports

With a new FCC chairman reportedly on his way in, it’s the perfect time to get as up to speed as possible on one of the most pressing telecom regulatory topics for 2009, the issue of network neutrality. And now we’ve made it easy for you to do so by offering our comprehensive report on the subject, titled “Net Neutrality Phase II: The Battle of 2009,” available for FREE DOWNLOAD from the Sidecut Reports website.

Prepared in an easy-to-read style with deep background material for those who want to get quickly up to speed on the history and significance of network neutrality, the 34-page report provides the most up-to-date look at the issue available. It also has interviews with top policy execs from AT&T, Google and Verizon, as well as policy influencers like Ben Scott of Free Press.

As predicted in the report, it looks like the Obama administration will make good on its pledge to enact some form of net neutrality legislation in 2009, or at least shape the FCC and other regulatory bodies in favor of open, neutral networks. See what the proponents and opponents have to say on this extremely important topic by downloading your free copy today.

As promised, here is the new list of movers and shakers in the debate about network neutrality, an update from our previous rankings released earlier this summer. (In college football terms, the earlier was the preseason poll, while this one is near the end of the BCS process.) Since we are still waiting for names to be named following the Presidential election victory by Sen. Barack Obama, we’re sure this list will be updated again soon. But for now, here’s your new list, including a new numero uno!

SIDECUT REPORTS PRESENTS
THE NET NEUTRALITY TOP 10 INFLUENCERS

The movers and shakers in the net neutrality debate, as of Nov. 16, 2008:

1. Rick Whitt, Google — With his new haircut, Rick no longer looks like Phil Mickelson and with recent wins like the white spaces decision, Google is playing public policy (at least in the telecom space) more like Padraig Harrington. But like Padraig, Whitt and Google will be looking over their shoulders as the season starts, as the Tiger of telecom looks to regain top status.

2. Jim Cicconi, AT&T — With 700 lawyers at his beck and call, and the financial resources of Ma Bell, it’s hard to see Jimmy C as anything but No. 1 when it comes to telecom lobbying. But the longtime friend of the GOP has his work cut out for him, with a President-elect who has net neutrality in his official platform.

3. Ben Scott, Free Press — Big Ben (well, not that big) jumps three spots, if for no other reason than the fact that things seem to be going lately just as he says they will. That’s either good guessing, or knowing (and helping advise) those who are pulling the strings. In November, Ben said there will be net neutrality legislation on the table soon in 2009. Anyone betting against him?

4. Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass. — Unchanged from original ranking. With all the focus on the Obama team, Rep. Markey hasn’t gotten much press yet but when the net neutrality discussions heat up in Congress we expect him to be strong as ever. Or stronger, with the larger Dem majority in both houses.

5. Joe Waz, Comcast — If Joe ever gets done cheering for the Phillies he might then be able to cheer his company to victory in its legal case seeking to appeal the FCC’s August decision. Either way, Comcast is already moving forward with smarter network management techniques, and has been reaching out to Google to find common ground. That’s moving the ball forward in a way that would make even Donovan McNabb jealous.

6. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. — The President-elect is sort of a placeholder here, since the dirty work in getting net neutrality done will be done by those who he picks to serve. Still, kind of nice to have this guy on your side if passing net neutrality law is your goal.

7. Blair Levin, Stifel, Nicolaus — This humble corner of the universe still sees Blair as the favorite in the race to replace Kevin Martin atop the FCC. And even if it doesn’t happen, for whatever reason, he’ll be a strong voice inside team Obama, as he has been throughout the campaign.

8. (tie) Kevin Werbach and Susan Crawford, Obama FCC transition team — Another place-holder sort of pick, since whoever they help select will eventually wield real power. But as the Obama FCC forms, net neutrality proponents Werbach and Crawford will use their expertise and opinions to shape the team.

10. Larry Page, Google — The search giant co-founder put himself front and center as the cheerleader for white spaces, and got the idea over the goal line. Watching him express his passion for more openness and better Internet access in side-by-side interviews with Kevin Martin at a conference in November shows just how much the Googlers have grown up in policy matters. And as one observer said, “never underestimate the power of a pissed-off billionaire.”

Honorable Mention: Tim Wu, Columbia Law School; Kyle McSlarrow, NCTA; Eric Schmidt, Google; Chris Libertelli, eBay/Skype; Gigi Sohn, Public Knowledge; Jessica Rosenworcel, Senate Commerce Committee; Jonathan Adelstein, FCC; Phil Weiser, University of Colorado; Richard Bennett, blogger/indepdent network engineer and self-confessed geek. UPDATE, 12/1: By popular demand (and my own inexplicable omission) I am adding the honorable Harold Feld to the honorable mention list… after all he does spend a lot of time inside the sausage factory of net neutrality.

Need to know more about net neutrality, or why such leading influencers think that 2009 will be a big year for possible passage of net neutrality legislation? Then order our Sidecut Report on Net Neutrality, which contains complete analysis of the FCC’s Comcast decision, as well as a net neutrality timeline and interviews with all the top players in the debate.

I will have some more thoughts (and maybe some video) on the informative net neutrality panel from Thursday’s proceedings at the WCAI confab in San Jose. But in the meantime, you can read some excellent coverage from Drew Clark and Declan McCullagh, who both know there way around this topic and then some.

(Declan also takes some arty pictures. Nice!)

Drew also has a longer take on FCC chairman Kevin Martin’s motivations for getting all Googly and loving the white spaces between the channels. Also worth a read.

As you can tell from our spiffy new button to the right, our promised report on net neutrality — Net Neutrality Phase II: The Battle of 2009 — is now live and ready for ordering via instant download. By combining our long background of reporting and analysis of the issue with interviews of leading legislators, top policy execs from the biggest companies, as well as representatives of the leading public-interest groups, we have produced a definitive in-depth look at the network neutrality issue, which by all accounts is headed for a big year in 2009.

While I’ll get to some of the report highlights in a bit, I want to point out first that here at Sidecut Reports we have no agenda and no skin in the network neutrality game, something that makes us much different from many players in the debate. By trying to stay as objective as possible, our goal was to produce an agenda-free look at network neutrality, which we consider a vital issue in any discussion about the future of broadband, networks, and the digital economy.

So what’s in the 34-page report? Starting with the FCC’s recent order punishing Comcast for its blocking of peer-to-peer applications, our report examines all technical and political parts of the debate, and how proponents and their opponents will position themselves following the November elections. Highlights of the report include:

• Why the FCC’s recent Comcast order isn’t much more than a starting point for the “next phase” of the net neutrality debate
• Why some close observers put the odds of Congress passing some kind of net neutrality legislation “better than even” in 2009, especially if Barack Obama wins the Presidential election
• What the big telcos, AT&T and Verizon, are planning to do and say to prevent passage of any new net neutrality legislation
• How Google and consumer groups Free Press and Public Knowledge are teaming up to educate the public and regulators on why they think there is a need for baseline net neutrality rules
• How any and all outcomes might affect the investment outlook for companies from startups to large service providers
• Why the debate is getting less rhetorical and moving toward more collaboration between opposing sides

The report also contains a network neutrality historical timeline, as well as the Sidecut Reports ranking of the “top ten” individuals influencing the network neutrality debate. The new report is available for immediate download.

In case you are new to Sidecut Reports, a little background: We are an independent editorial research company that provides business professionals with deep background, up-to-the minute information, and decision-making analysis on pertinent topics that goes far beyond blogs at a price far less than that charged by traditional analyst operations. Led by longtime industry journalist Paul Kapustka, Sidecut Reports provides in-depth looks into topics at the intersection of telecommunications, the Internet and public policy. The net neutrality report is our second report, following the release earlier this year of our Sidecut report on WiMax, which looks at the current market for WiMax wireless services in the U.S.

Back in February, we reported how frustrated FCC commish Jonathan Adelstein was at the pace of broadband deployment in the U.S. While we liked his idea of national broadband summits, at the time it seemed like a good idea without much behind it.

Tuesday, Google and a few of its friends got behind the idea in a big way, launching something called Internetforeveryone.org, which is clearly a place for Google and others to promote their ideas for open, more-available Internet to the masses.

Google, which explains the new endeavor on its public policy blog, is continuing its all-in push into public policy by backing the Adelstein/Lessig/Free Press idea. By holding the as yet-unscheduled summits, Google and its partners can also produce dialogue that with any luck won’t be as scripted or stilted as the FCC hearings that pass for the best discourse on public policy and broadband matters.

Since our next report (due out soon) is about network neutrality, we couldn’t agree more that the level of debate on broadband policy needs to be increased. No better time than now.