Neelie Kroes to hand net neutrality decision to users

European Commission (EC) vice president Neelie Kroes plans to advocate consumer choice and impose stringent rules on service providers.

Kroes is is readying a recommendation following a recently released study by the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) on net neutrality in the EU.

The recommendation will outline three major themes for internet service providers (ISPs), it will:

• ask service providers to clearly state real-life broadband speeds to consumers, and not just speeds during peak hours; 
• force ISPs to give clear, quantified data ceilings instead of vague "fair use" policies;
• mandate clear marketing terms for the type of internet offered.

"Consumers also need to know if they are getting Champagne or lesser sparkling wine. If it is not full internet, it shouldn't be marketed as such; perhaps it shouldn't be marketed as "internet" at all, at least not without any upfront qualification," said Kroes.

"Regulators should have that kind of control over how ISPs market the service."

Kroes planned recommendation comes following a European Parliament resolution asking the EC to provide consistent telecom guidelines among European countries. Her recommendations will be in line with figures that came out of the recent BEREC report.

The report found that 20 per cent of ISPs restrict services like VOIP and peer-to-peer file sharing during peak hours. As well as noted, that ISPs put in place traffic management practices, like packet inspection, that could lead to privacy concerns.

Late last year European Data Protection Supervisor  Peter Hustinx urged the EC to focus any net neutrality debate on consumer privacy.