While attending the annual ADTRAN industry analyst and press conference here in Huntsville AL, (my first time here), Gary Bolton, the VP of Marketing gave a solid discussion of the broadband stimulus initiatives of the FCC and the company’s role in that market, both as a provider of carrier access and edge products. Here, the Wall Street Journal shows the FCC chairman’s new plan for Net Neutrality that is quite a more practical solution for the balance between consumers, Internet access providers and content providers. It’s summed up neatly as, “if you want more, you pay more.”

Now, I don’t expect we’ll see big changes right away, but in the coming months and years, as competition based on speed increases in the local access, we’re sure to see increasing emphasis on performance bands. The challenge to the wireline industry is to figure out how to explain what each band really means.