A revealed Google is in talks with the American telecom company Verizon on a new scheme to pay for prioritised delivery of its internet traffic. Under the scheme, a YouTube clip or a Google Voice internet call would have a special reserved lane on Verizon's broadband network, making the service more reliable and faster than data from other internet companies who have not paid for the privilege. Google (which of exactly this kind of deal) and Verizon , while acknowledging that the two companies are in talks. The debate over what those in the industry call "network neutrality" has major ramifications for how the internet works. We have , looking a and to the . Here in the UAE, the national fibre-optic broadband network is already used by both operators to deliver crystal-clear high definition television to households across the country. It is unclear whether the telecom companies, which are also the TV service providers, have given themselves a special "fast lane" that is not available to others; anyone who has sat in their apartments waiting for a YouTube clip to load whilst simultaneously watching a smooth TV broadcast can guess for themselves that such TV traffic is delivered as a priority. The nature of the internet means that the approach taken by American regulators and businesses will likely become a sort of standard for the rest of the world, which means keeping track of this debate is something well worth your time. , , and a fantastic NYT op-ed (clue: it involves shipping containers and parking lots.) And Google's public policy blog .