Do you know if they are using anything to encrypt the links between towers and end stations?
Absolutely. There is ample security, multiple encryptions including from corporate backend to carrier to enduser and vice versa.
The whole debate is about 'transportation costs' meaning carriers want to charge higher for faster bandwidth.
Well the answer to those plays has always been to turn the tables on them by new disruptive technology.
Net Neutrality is another 'good intention' that will evolve into regulating the internet, and that will be costly as well as restrictive.
We the endusers have to stay ahead of the game by going with competing tech, that would be WIMAX.