News
European regulator group makes minor tweaks in bid to clear up confusion; national telco watchdogs to provide implementation report in June 2017.
BEREC on Tuesday released its final guidelines for how Europe’s telco regulators should implement the EU’s net neutrality rules.
The final document does not vary significantly from the draft guidelines, which were published in June and subjected to a public consultation that garnered almost half a million responses. Rather, it contains various clarifications and addenda aimed at clearing up any confusion stemming from the first draft.
"In finalising the guidelines, BEREC took into account the many responses received, which were often arguing in opposite directions," BEREC said, in a statement.
"Some stakeholders wanted BEREC to go further on certain topics whilst others wanted BEREC to be less prescriptive, depending on their respective perspective. BEREC considers this a signal that, in many areas, BEREC’s initial approach had struck an appropriate balance in accordance with BEREC’s interpretation of the regulation."
Indeed, operators argued that the guidelines created uncertainty, going so far as to claim it may cause delays to 5G investment.
Conversely, consumer advocates warned that the guidelines contained loopholes that could be exploited by telcos to the detriment of choice and innovation.
The net neutrality rules, adopted in April, are designed to prevent unfair blocking and connection-speed throttling, and the paid prioritisation of Web traffic.
Under BEREC’s guidelines, telcos are still allowed to provide so-called ‘specialised services’, provided such a service is deemed objectively necessary, does not constitute an alternative for a generic Internet access service (IAS), and does not degrade the performance of the public Internet. Examples of specialised services include VoLTE, linear IPTV, and mobile network slicing.
Telcos are also permitted to carry out reasonable traffic management based on the different quality of service (QoS) requirements of various categories of Internet traffic. Traffic must not be managed based on commercial interests.
Services like zero-rating – where the data traffic generated by a specific service or category of services does not count towards a customer’s data allowance – will effectively be judged on a case-by-case basis to ensure the practice does not harm competition or choice.
If a customer uses up their data allowance but can still access a zero-rated service, this would constitute a violation of the rules, except under specific circumstances. For example, a customer would still be able to access their operator’s customer support portal for the purpose of purchasing extra data.
BEREC’s final guidelines also include a new paragraph specifying that traffic management practices, specialised services, and commercial practices do not require ex ante authorisation from regulators.
Under the rules, regulators will have the power to require telcos to cease or revise problematic traffic management practices, and withdraw specialised services in the absence of sufficient capacity for IAS. Regulators will also have the power to impose fines on rule breakers.
In the interests of transparency, operators will be required to provide more information about connection speeds for mobile as well as fixed services. They must also make customers aware of any traffic management techniques and specialised services being provided.
"Our rules, and today’s guidelines, avoid fragmentation in the single market, create legal certainty for businesses and make it easier for them to work across border. They also ensure that the Internet remains an engine for innovation and that advanced technologies and Internet of Things services like connected vehicles as well as 5G applications are developed today, and will flourish in the future," said Andrus Ansip, EU vice president in charge of the digital single market (DSM), and digital economy and society commissioner Günther Oettinger, in a joint statement.
Going forward, national telco regulators will provide their first annual report on implementing BEREC’s guidelines by 30 June 2017.
