We discuss salient economic aspects of the Internet, including the possible abolition of net neutrality by local broadband access networks as well as potential incompatibilities and degradation of connectivity in the Internet backbone

The vast majority of US residential consumers face a monopoly or duopoly in broadband Internet access. Up to now, the Internet was characterized by a regime of 'net neutrality' where there was no discrimination in the price of a transmitted information packet based on the identities of either...