Aiming at Bridging Digital Divide, MMTC Launching Pro Zero-Rating Campaign
The danger that zero-rating services provide an incomplete online experience is outweighed by the digital divide-bridging benefits enjoyed by low-income households and people of color from that free data, said the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council Monday as MMTC unveiled a white paper. "When you hear people saying free data will create a walled garden, when you don't have grass, a walled garden sounds pretty nice," MMTC President Kim Keenan said during a news conference. "People's budgets are real. For us to act like [that issue] doesn't exist is to shut our eyes that there will be people who can't afford to be part of the digital future."
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Repeatedly calling it "free data," MMTC in its white paper said zero-rating services have "come under attack as being contrary to the 'spirit and the text' of the FCC's open Internet regime." But the group said zero-rating services could play a notable role in bringing online the 15 percent of Americans lacking Internet access. Likening zero rating to free shipping or toll-free calls, Keenan said the public interest group will launch a call-to-action campaign on its website Tuesday and follow it with a variety of events.
Some have said the FCC might lean toward regulating zero-rating services now that its net neutrality rules were upheld in U.S. District Court (see 1606170024). The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) last month issued a report arguing zero rating is pro consumer (see 1605230044). The FCC didn't comment Monday.
Acknowledging that zero-rating services "will put a finger on the scale" for driving traffic, Brent Wilkes, national executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said a compromise might be workable where access to certain types of services -- like government agency websites and online job searches and health information -- could not count against data caps. "Sure, we want [people lacking mobile broadband access] to have fun and watch videos, but it isn't necessarily a societal objective," he said. ITIF Telecom Policy Analyst Doug Brake also said there's need to ensure zero-rating services aren't exclusive to affiliated content.
The cost of mobile broadband and its value proposition are two chief barriers to adoption by non-users, MMTC said. Citing Pew Research Center data indicating people of color and low-income households are more likely to encounter higher-than-expected monthly wireless bills due to overages and to have service cut off for financial reasons, MMTC said zero rating "presents ... an enormous opportunity" in helping manage that usage and resulting expenses.
"By and large, consumers are reaping the benefits of intense competition among network, device and content providers," MMTC said in the white paper. Free data "is a symptom of a hyper-innovative space, not an invasion of an Open Internet," it said. "For communities of color [zero rating] can mean an affordable digital connection to the future" -- with small businesses particularly dependent on mobile connectivity especially in need, the group said. "Free data can and should play a key role in finally making progress toward universal, first-class digital citizenship for every American."