Such complicated world we live in

Every time I explain bad technical implementations that have too much impact on innovation and competition (like in this post about IP-TV), people ask me why I am against bundling, or why I am against an ISP running services.

Let me state this once and for all (but I have nothing against repeating this): I am NOT against bundling or having an ISP running services.

In reality, the consumer want packages, one invoice, one customer service to call. And why should an ISP not run services? Many ISPs, specifically the incumbent telephony providers, will most certainly in the future be the best providers of services. They have been running services for a hundred years!

But the components of the package does not have to be run by the ISP, and we will definitely see fewer providers of services than ISPs. And this implies also the incumbents might not all exist in the future (if I am correct in my guessing). We have seen consolidation already, and my guess is that we will see more.

And I am against the proposed legislation regarding network neutrality that we have seen in the US. The access providers and ISPs must have the ability to innovate regarding new ways of providing IP packets. Competition can not only rely on price as a differencing factor. That will lead to ISPs getting less and less money, and that will definitely not help their customers.

This is why I am explicitly (all the time) only talk about locking out competitors. Not locking in customers. Not more precisely what locking out is. Not exactly what actions the access provider might do that have “too much” impact on competition. Those details competition people should have a closer look at.