OVER THE TOP (OTT), might be easily construed to reflect a description of a person considered to make outlandish comments. Michael is really over the top on this one? But OTT in the telecommunications arena is about individuals having access to communication tools that are critical to either their social or personal development or for business. So we are talking about Skype, WhatsApp and other familiar tools on our desktop computers or phones, which we use as second nature to communicate, either in our native countries or with people overseas.
The United States and other countries, in what many of us would regard as a progressive step, has adopted a policy known as net neutrality, which in the case of OTT, simply means people should not be blocked from using these free tools offered by service providers.
In the closing days of the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) led by Sir Neville Nicholls, a lawyer and former president of the Caribbean Development Bank, the Commission ruled that OTT should remain available without charge. This decision was one of several taken in the context of the then proposed merger of the operations of Cable & Wireless and Columbus in Barbados and across the Caribbean.
It was therefore heartening in an interview I had with Niall Sheehy, the new managing director of Cable & Wireless (Barbados) Limited, to hear him reaffirm the commitment of the “new” Flow to net neutrality and free access to OTT options such as Skype and WhatsApp. The FTC ruling was, to my mind, the type of landmark decision making consumers and businesses expect to see. Essentially, what it says is that if an individual or business invests in broadband service they should be allowed to use that broadband as they so wish.
Hence, we have Skype and Webex meetings either in Barbados or overseas to “meet”, discuss and plan. Take the just concluded junior robotics camp for children, run by the Caribbean Science Foundation (CSF), for example. This was a huge pilot success but took about nine months of planning by the volunteer committee of the CSF. An example of how OTT liberalisation serves a country in a positive way.
“We support the idea of net neutrality, absolutely. Our commitment is that we will continue to allow Over The Top content that is legal. There are no issues there,” Sheehy said. But he noted there were issues associated with child pornography and illegal downloads which the company opposed. “We have an obligation to ensure that any content on our network is legal. What we don’t support is illegal content.”
The “new” Flow, he continued, recognised the benefits to consumers of Netflix, a commercial service which provides movies and shows online, and other products such as Skype and WhatsApp, which allow for messaging and video calls and are still by and large free of charge to the individual.
Recent months have shown how critical regulation can be and that it can converge with a recognition by a communications service provider of what matters to its customers.
Hallam Hope is an ITC specialist.
