UK ISP Entanet , a wholesale voice and broadband data communications provider , has entered into the bitter row over who should pay for online content distribution - the ISP or the content developer (e.g. the BBC). Entanet claims that a fundamental issue is being missed and instead points an accusing finger at BT Wholesale for its high bandwidth prices.

The news follows an earlier email by BT Retail to the BBC over the restricting of the broadcasters Internet TV iPlayer service, in which the broadband provider warned that content owners couldn't "expect to continue to get a free ride"; a strongly worded claim that Tiscali has also supported.


Entanet firmly believes that the duty of delivering traffic to such sites and services falls to the network provider and therefore so should the costs. They state that BT Retail should instead concentrate on re-developing its own business models to more effectively satisfy customers’ increasing demand for bandwidth.


It's worth pointing out that Entanet is already on record as having been frustrated by BT Wholesale's recent bandwidth and line rental price hikes, thus its position is understandable; especially in a market where competing unbundled (LLU) providers seem to have a significant price advantage.

Entanet concludes by warning that enabling network providers to effectively "block access", in this case to content providers such as the BBC, the lack of net neutrality could lead to a highly censored Internet and a tiered approach to access (i.e. the more you pay the more you can do). Mind you, the latter point already seems to exist in our market. The blog certainly makes for an interesting read.

Related News:
25th June 2009
Tiscali UK Calls on Broadcasters to Pay for Online Content Distribution

20th June 2009
UK Broadband ISPs Have Free Rein to Block Content Providers

11th June 2009
BT Calls on BBC to Pay it for -iPlayer- Content Delivery