The European Union is considering a more relaxed approach to net neutrality – even though the European Commission passed a fairly strict interpretation of the concept in April that would ban operators from prioritizing data traffic on the Internet.
The newly elected commission, which is now led by Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg, is taking a new look at the entire package of digital legislation. And a draft document seen by Reuters held less strict language on net neutrality, prohibiting only actions that “block, slow down, alter, degrade or discriminate against specific content.”
The change likely will please the telecos in Europe. ETNO, an industry association that includes such major European players as Deutsche Telekom, Orange and Telefónica, has issued a statement urging both Europe and the U.S. to take “light touch” approaches to such policies.
“These (approaches) should recognize the consumer benefits flowing from traffic management, which is a toll to both preserve and enhance good customer experience online and allow the customer the freedom of choice of their preferred bundles,” ETNO said in a recent statement.
Advocates on the other side argue that without strong net neutrality, operators will be able to favor certain services and content providers, ultimately squelching innovation.
Obama urges strong net neutrality regs
Europe’s potential move away from strict net neutrality regulations is a counterpoint to the U.S. where the movement seems to be going the other way. President Barack Obama recently urged the Federal Communications Commission to “implement the strongest possible rules to protect net neutrality.”
The commission also is reportedly looking at delaying the end of mobile roaming costs within the 28 member states. These fees were originally slated to end in December 2015, but a new draft omits that deadline.
The EU member states will be debating the draft legislation later this week and the regulations could come before the full commission when it meets in two weeks.
More telecom news from EMEA:
Ofcom will turn over 700Mhz to mobile in the U.K. by 2022. To help meet the growing demand for mobile services, the U.K. telecom regulator has decided to move digital terrestrial television (DTT) off the band to free it up for mobile operators who would like to use the 700 Mhz for providing 4G LTE services. Ofcom is already planning a spectrum auction in the 2.3 GHz and 3.4 GHz bands, to be held in 2015 or early 2016.
German MVNO Drillisch looks to buy Yourfone from Telefónica (in German). Drillisch, a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), is looking to buy Telefónica’s subsidiary, Yourfone. The move follows Telefónica Deutschland’s $11.7 billion purchase of E-Plus, which made it the largest mobile operator in Germany. The E-Plus deal was approved by regulators with a number of concessions from Telefónica. Prior to the approval, the operator had started sharing part of its network with Drillisch.
ASUS taps Israel’s Altair Semiconductor for “always connected” LTE Chromebook. The LTE chipset developer based in Hod Hasharon, Israel, will provide its FourGee-3100/6202 LTE chipset for the new ASUS Chromebook, giving users a continuous 100 Mbps Internet connection.
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