Emerging themes from Europe's net neutrality consultation
18 November 2010
The European Commission has published its summary of the responses to its net neutrality consultation. Among the main findings were concerns about privacy, innovation and freedom of expression, and about a lack of transparency for consumers.
There was also a widespread view that transparency by itself would not allay all net neutrality concerns, particularly where there are barriers to switching between internet service providers. This was one of the areas the Panel highlighted in its response and we are pleased to see it has been noted by the Commission.
Transparency is about ensuring that consumers have the right information about the traffic management policies employed by internet service providers. But this information is complicated and difficult for even the most tech-savvy consumers to understand. It also relies on consumers making a decision to switch package or provider on the basis of traffic management policies. However, traffic management is just one of a range of factors consumers consider when choosing provider. There are also barriers to switching that need to be overcome, including lack of choice for some, particularly rural, consumers and the increasing prevalence of bundling.
So to get transparency right we need to know more about how consumers use information, and the role of information about traffic management as one of a wide range of factors consumers may consider when making a decision about broadband.
We also need to make sure that information is presented in a way that is meaningful and comparable - possibly in terms of positive commitments about what services consumers will be able to access and when, rather than the kind of ‘up to' model adopted in advertising of broadband speeds. We look forward to seeing these issues explored in more detail as the Commission continues its net neutrality debate.
We were also pleased to see that some of the citizen issues had been highlighted, including privacy and freedom of expression. However, we would like to see a more comprehensive assessment of the potential implications for citizens as well as consumers, including the impact on provision of online public services.