Vaizey gives green light to abandon net neutrality

Minister says lightly regulated internet is good for business, good for the economy and good for people

The UK's communication minister, Ed Vaizey, has given the green light for ISPs to abandon the principle of net neutrality.

Vaizey told delegates at the FT World Telecoms Conference today that his government believed a "lightly regulated internet is good for business, good for the economy and good for people."

That light touch will extend as far as scrapping the principle of net neutrality, under which traffic flowing over the internet is treated equally.

ISPs should be able to manage their networks to ensure a good service and have flexibility in business models, said Vaizey.

But while the announcement is sure to upset net neutrality supporters, it may be welcomed by some business leaders.

There would inevitably have to be some controls around the quality of service (QoS) efforts ISPs seek to implement, said Dale Vile, managing director of analyst group Freeform Dynamics.

"But if you absolutely need superior QoS as a business to either deliver or consume a service, you should be able to pay an incremental fee to get it," he said.

Issues around QoS are becoming progressively more important in the mobile industry, now there is an expectation that a mobile internet connection will always be available, said Angus Finnegan, head of telecoms at law firm Osborne Clarke. "The number of users and devices wanting mobile connections has added pressure to the existing infrastructure," he stated.