For our members, building software for the latest handset, latest wearable, and latest tablet is the job. Successfully making that app fun, interesting and useful is the goal. But there’s one element that, frankly, can get in the way – data caps. We know if you just download our app, you will find it amazing and useful, but if you don’t download it because you are about to hit your limit, we both lose.
Enter “Free Data” – the idea that arrangements can be made that would allow usage of an app without counting data used against your monthly cap – has been in the news a lot lately, and is one we have discussed with many app makers across the United States. Moreover, it’s a topic we have been asked about by Members of Congress and agencies.
Whether speaking to members of Congress, a sector-specific federal agency, a state government official, or a city council member, App Association members usually have several modest requests. In general, we push for government policy decisions that are reasonable, technically feasible, and technology neutral, and that the obligations placed on them be predictable and straightforward. These are key ingredients in the recipe for the “virtuous cycle” of investment and innovation that has made America the startup engine envied by the rest of the world. Think of this as supporting competition and not putting a thumb on the scale or blocking others from entering the field.
Recent developments at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reinforce the need for the App Association to carry these concepts forward. The Commission’s Open Internet rules, aimed at ensuring an accessible and open internet, also need to be flexible enough to create opportunities for small businesses. Ultimately, we see that the potential to either enter into a data deal ourselves, or have some large video provider cut a deal and thereby free up room for our apps under the cap, is a “net” good thing. Moreover, the free data plans that have been articulated so far feel like the beginning of competition, not the end. There are a variety of “free data” plans in place today, and we expect there to be further development of innovations that will develop in connection with the app-enabled internet ecosystem.
As a result, we feel the Commission should continue allowing experimentation with different types of “free data” arrangements while providing oversight under the “no-unreasonable interference/disadvantage” standard established in the Open Internet rules. We believe this will prevent abuses that would distort the market or negatively affect competition based on demonstrated harms.
Unfortunately we are worried the FCC didn’t get the message. The FCC recently departed from its stated policies on “free data,” issuing letters to several service providers that express “serious concern” with the “free data” programs. These letters sent in the twilight of an administration appear to represent a shift in policy from its rulemaking, and have raised uncertainty for small businesses who are using or are planning to leverage these arrangements to grow and create jobs. As a result, we can’t be certain if these innovative arrangements will be permitted going forward as the Commission originally agreed. To date, no evidence has been brought establishing consumer harm through these “zero rating”programs. This feels like the FCC stepping in to block something before it has a chance to succeed or fail, and that’s wrong.
The App Association calls on the Commission to work with service providers and innovators who rely on internet connectivity to invest and create jobs to carefully consider the impact that its inconsistencies will have.