Consultation on net neutrality

Today the commission launched a consultation on net neutrality. It covers such issues as whether internet providers should be allowed to adopt certain traffic management practices, prioritising one kind of internet traffic over another, whether such traffic management practices may create problems and have unfair effects for users, whether the level of competition between different internet service providers and the transparency requirements of the new telecom framework may be sufficient to avoid potential problems by allowing consumers' choice and whether the EU needs to act further to ensure fairness in the internet market, or whether industry should take the lead.

On the basis of this consultation, the Commission should propose a Communication on net neutrality by the end of this year to set out its thinking on whether additional initiatives or guidance are required.

Asyou will remeber, the new 2009 framework includes a commitment to respect net neutrality and introduces the powers for NRAs to set minimum quality levels for network transmission services.