Korea’s internet business body regrets US decision to kill net neutrality

South Korea’s representative internet business body on Sunday expressed regret over the US Federal Communications Council’s landmark decision to repeal net neutrality rules that had required internet service providers to offer equal access to all web content without discrimination.

The Korea Internet Corporations Association released a formal statement citing “deep worries” over what they called negative consequences that the US FCC’s decision is expected to have on the global internet industry, including Korea’s.

Last week, the US FCC voted to dismantle net neutrality rules that were originally put in place by the former Obama administration in 2015. Without the rules, broadband providers are allowed to deliberately speed up or slow down traffic from specific websites or mobile apps.

This means that US telecom companies can legally offer preferential treatment to some internet-based services in exchange for a fee and potentially charge consumers for “fast lanes” — paid networks offering speedier, higher-quality access to certain web content.

Opponents of net neutrality argue that the concept has amounted to an undue overregulation of the telecom sector, hindering competition and investment into innovating critical broadband infrastructure.

Joining proponents of the concept, the Korea Internet Corporations Association said that the US FCC’s eradication of net neutrality rules could pose a negative influence on other countries upholding the guidelines, including Korea.

“Blindly accepting changes in the US’ telecommunications law, which are heavily affected by the US’ political environment, will hurt the foundation of Korea’s ‘fourth industrial revolution,’” the Seoul-based association said.

“Korea’s internet businesses have grown to their stature on the back of net neutrality rules. And net neutrality should continue to play a foundational role in supporting the growth of small startups entering the internet content business space.”

In addition, the absence of net neutrality rules will threaten Korea’s internet business industry by hampering innovation, while driving away startups seeking to bring next-generation internet content and services to the local market, the agency said.

So far, the Korean government appears to be unfazed by the US’ decision to repeal net neutrality. Last week, the head of telecommunications policy planning at Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT told reporters that he “believes that the US FCC’s decision is unlikely to impact Korea’s telecom regulations.”

He also noted that Korea’s internet service providers are currently required to follow net neutrality guidelines and that President Moon Jae-in has promised to strengthen net neutrality as part of his election pledge.

However, some Korean lawmakers have opposed net neutrality, calling it an outdated concept that may not be viable in the data-heavy age of ultra-fast 5G networks and the Internet of Things.

Rep. Kim Kyoung-tae of the main opposition Liberal Korea Party said during a National Assembly meeting last month that “net neutrality was an appropriate regulatory framework for a time of government-led ICT infrastructure development, and is now unfitting for the new 5G era,” according to local media reports.

Net neutrality has become a hot topic of issue worldwide over the past few years, as telecom companies have continually complained about the snowballing costs of hosting popular data-heavy web services like Facebook, YouTube and Netflix.

Advocates of net neutrality argue that the guidelines are necessary for creating an equal grounds for competition in the internet content sector, where small firms are given access to the same broadband resources that the big companies have.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)