Restrictions in price fixing for Internet access could decrease the value of Internet for its users, according to Michael Katz, Director of the Center for Telecommunications and Digital Convergence and Sarin Chair in Strategy and Leadership of University of California at Berkeley. Katz spoke about price fixing on the internet in a recent conference called "Network Neutrality" during the 2nd Forum on Competition and Regulation, held at IESE Business School (University of Navarra).

The term "network neutrality" has been used to describe several different types of regulatory restrictions on the pricing of Internet access. Katz looked at the various types of network neutrality, including vertical foreclosure, price discrimination, and two-sided pricing, and the subsequent effects that these bans would have on end users.

According to Katz, vertical integration of technology platforms (for example, in the case of high speed internet providers) does not always harm market competition, and could even create incentive for companies to develop innovative technologies that positively affect the end user.

The Forum on Regulation and Competition aims to bring together consultants, business people, academics and regulators, offering a space for the debate of business strategy, competition in the marketplace and regulation. The conference was organized by IESE¿s Public-Private Sector Research Center. For more information on this center, please visit the SPSP website.