The court’s decision to overturn net neutrality rules represents a seismic shift in the internet's regulatory landscape–leaving Internet Service Providers (ISPs) with the power to throttle, block, or prioritize traffic. This can significantly impact business operations and internet infrastructure costs. CIOs and IT executives must proactively assess their current network dependencies and begin developing contingency plans to mitigate potential cost increases and service disruptions.
Why You Should Care
- Disruption to access. Without net neutrality, ISPs can prioritize their own content, charge premium fees to competitors or create "fast lanes" for companies willing to pay more. Startups and small businesses reliant on internet access will be disadvantaged by their limited budgets while established tech giants with more resources will secure favorable terms for their internet traffic–exacerbating network access inequality.
- Rising costs for enterprises. Companies may need to negotiate directly with ISPs to maintain seamless digital services. This cost could cascade into increased expenses for cloud, streaming, AI and collaborative tools.
- Legal and operational uncertainty. The legal battle over net neutrality has been a contentious partisan issue for nearly two decades, with multiple administrations introducing or rolling back the rules along partisan lines. With a patchwork of state regulations emerging, navigating compliance and maintaining consistent service delivery could become complex and fragmented. The need for proactive analysis and planning remains paramount
What You Should Do Next
Integrate ISP-related risks into your business continuity plans, ensuring contingencies for throttling, prioritization, or pricing changes. Develop a cost-effective, redundant network strategy by securing secondary internet connections and considering diverse ISPs to mitigate potential disruptions.
Get Started
- Reassess continuity protocols. Update your business continuity and disaster recovery plans to address the risks of ISP interference. Establish and periodically test backup connections to prevent reliance on a single provider. Deploy tools that can track network performance and identify ISP-related disruptions to act swiftly if service levels drop.
- Review existing ISP contracts. Scrutinise current contracts for clauses relating to service prioritization, throttling, premium pricing and costs, and initiate discussions with your ISP to clarify potential changes after this ruling. Investigate and evaluate alternative ISPs and network technologies, including state net neutrality options and other providers, to mitigate the risks of relying on a single provider.
- Assess network dependencies. Identify critical applications and services that are highly dependent on internet connectivity to understand potential risks to productivity and operations. Deploy tools and processes to track network performance and ensure that you have data to support your next contract negotiation or to help you mitigate a future change to network speed or access.
- Strengthen resilience. Implement multi-cloud strategies and secondary connections to ensure service continuity. If operating in states with net neutrality protections, leverage these regulations for competitive advantages.
- Prioritize budgeting for potential increases in bandwidth and premium service costs, ensuring allocations focus on critical applications and services without exceeding financial limits.
- Educate stakeholders. Inform executive leadership and teams about potential impacts on cost structures, service delivery, and compliance.