Balancing Network Neutrality with policy management, SDM objectives

As the Federal Communications Commission struggles to define its role in the network neutrality debate, operators' wait-and-see approach is evolving into a smart combination of strategies that balance competitive and subscriber needs with regulation.

Operators want the right to compete and ensure long-term survival and profitability, and for that reason they hope any impending network neutrality rules don't mitigate their ability to deploy quality of service and traffic controls within their networks. The day is coming when tiered pricing models and prioritization of traffic will be necessary because constant network buildouts are impossible to feasibly support in terms of capital investments.