There are other possibile outcomes to tiered access that are not being discussed. Offering tiered service to content publishers does not mean that traffic from those publishers must be prioritized for all consumers. Specifically, tiered publisher access can subsidize a new level of "subsidized" internet service, with price Y that is lower than the "neutral service" price X. More households will be able to access the internet as a result. Those households that prefer to continue receiving all publisher content in a "neutral" way may continue to do so (at the same price X).

Creative consumer education (as implied by Ofcom) can assist in this. ISPs are incentivized to do this because they can reach more consumers this way, ultimately increasing their bottom line. ISPs that do not pair prioritized publisher service with subsidized consumer service (as described above) will whither in the face of competition from ISPs that do.

Regulation cannot be considered without acknowledgement of the potential to stifle innovation in the internet service business and related technologies.