Net neutrality not under threat by priority content, claims EC

Commission wants to wait and see what happens in the US

Neelie Kroes: not a police officer in search of a busy corner

Allowing content providers to pay for priority delivery on the internet will promote net neutrality not kill it, said Neelie Kroes, European commissioner for the digital agenda.

There won’t be flurry of new EU regulations on the matter, Kroes said, as the Commission intends to adopt a wait-and-see position while watching developments unfold in the US, where the FCC has come down heavily in favour of strict net neutrality.

But the debate is still open and Kroes promised to launch public consultation before the summer.

In a speech yesterday to the ARCEP (L'Autorité de Régulation des Communications Electroniques et des Postes) Conference in Paris, Kroes put further distance between the EC position and that of the FCC.

While subscribing to the FCC’s four basic principles - for consumers: to access lawful internet content of their choice; to run applications and services of their choice, to connect devices of their choice and to have competition – she balked at the FCC’s insistence on non-discrimination for internet traffic, especially if non-discrimination means preventing telecom operators from seeking commercial payments or agreements with capacity-hungry content providers for a priority service.

Allowing content providers to pay for priority delivery will help fund development of the internet for all, she told the audience of telecom chiefs.

“We need investment in efficient and open networks. We have to adopt clear regulatory measures to foster investment in new efficient and open networks. Deploying such networks and promoting infrastructure competition may be the best way to avoid bottlenecks and monopolistic gatekeepers, thereby ensuring net neutrality", Kroes said.

However, the former competition commissioner doesn’t intend to let wealthy content providers squeeze out non-commercial traffic and new entrants. But anyone expecting a raft of new regulation from the EC on net neutrality is likely to be disappointed.

“We should avoid taking unnecessary measures that may hinder new efficient business models from emerging,” Kroes said.

Beyond implementing the new framework, further regulation may not be necessary, she added.

“Putting a police officer at a busy corner can often deliver the slowest traffic of all. I am not a police officer in search of a busy corner,” she told conference delegates.

Any infringement of this nature is likely to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis by the National Regulatory Authorities called for in the EU's new regulatory framework adopted in 2009.