BBC will alert customers of bandwidth restrictions

The BBC will alert customers of any ISPs that restrict their ability to use its online video service iPlayer, the corporation has said. The news comes in response to confirmation from the government that it plans to abandon the principle of net neutrality.

Speaking at the FT's World Telecoms conference, BBC director of future media, Erik Huggers said the broadcaster was building a traffic light system that would let users know if their broadband provider was throttling iPlayer traffic.

But Huggers said the system would only be deployed if it became clear that consumers were unaware of their ISP's traffic management policy, reports the FT.

Under the proposals laid out by communication minister Ed Vaizey yesterday, ISPs would be allowed to introduce traffic management policies - in other words to offer unrestricted services to those willing to pay - providing they communicated those policies clearly to customers.