Telecommunications Companies as Digital Broadcasters: The Importance of Net Neutrality in Competitive Markets

Abstract

This article examines the recent phenomenon of telecommunications companies distributing screen content over-the-top (OTT). It begins by localizing this international trend through an Australian case study and exploring how this process manifests in a relatively competitive telecommunications market. The article reveals that telecommunications companies going OTT contributes to increasing concentration among Australian Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and also raises a series of consumer issues. I go on to argue that the ownership or provision of telecommunications infrastructure must be separated from content distribution and that net neutrality needs to be embedded as a central media policy concern, even in markets with a relatively strong level of competition. However, the article also notes that such policies do not address the long-term profitability of telecommunications companies that are not already vertically integrated, a problem that future research needs to address.