About: Net Neutrality Archives

British consumers can rest assured they'll benefit from EU plans to drop roaming charges in 2017—regardless of the outcome of the UK referendum on EU membership, a British official told a concerned House of Lords committee yesterday (7 September).

EU Digital Commissioner Günther Oettinger said that he prefers Spain's controversial ancillary copyright law on Tuesday (14 July), sometimes nicknamed a 'Google tax', to the German model.

After almost 13 hours cooped up in talks, negotiators tasked with clinching some kind of a deal on the telecoms single market came to a breakthrough early this morning (30 June). At around two o'clock, frazzled MEPs tweeted that the marathon meeting had broken up with an agreement in hand.

Orange, Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica have launched a new demand for reform in the EU telecommunications sector. They want new regulations to be extended to the Internet providers that piggyback on their services. EURACTIV France and La Tribune report.

A European Council communication sent to Parliament Friday (22 May) shows that it hasn't budged on net neutrality. The Council is pushing back against lawmakers' earlier move towards rules that would prevent telecoms from giving some internet traffic special treatment.

SPECIAL REPORT / Officials attempting to reach a deal over the reform of Internet governance have told EURACTIV that delays and the “weaponisation” of the issue in the current US political climate are threatening to ignite an international dispute.

Facebook will today publish a report – seen by EURACTIV – claiming that its social network generated €195 billion and enabled 4,540,000 jobs throughout the world last year.

The European Commission and Parliament have long been pushing for a removal of EU roaming fees. But a recent move by German Transportation Minister Alexander Dobrindt could bring Europe closer to phasing out costs for mobile phone users in other EU member states. EURACTIV Germany reports.

During a visit to Berlin, Digital Commissioner Günther Oettinger called for increased investment in Europe’s digital infrastructure, explaining that the economy alone will not be able to close the significant investment gap. EURACTIV Germany reports.

European Union governments are considering less stringent rules on how internet service providers manage traffic on their networks, according to a draft seen by Reuters, a move that could be welcomed by Europe's large telecoms operators.

Europe is supposed to become a global leader in the digital world, while Germany hopes for an Industry 4.0 at the national IT Summit, putting net neutrality to the test with a “special service”. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Commissioner-designate for the Digital Internal Market, Andrus Ansip, hopes to rein in large-scale transmission of personal data to the United States, winning visible support in the European Parliament, where he was dubbed “the real Digital Commissioner”. EURACTIV Germany reports.

SPECIAL REPORT / The neutrality of the internet may not only be a matter of traffic management, but also of search results, as dominant operators increasingly have the chance to direct consumers’ choices, says net neutrality expert Innocenzo Genna, in an interview with EURACTIV. 

The European Parliament approved yesterday (3 April) a reform of rules governing telecoms and the Internet, enhancing guarantees for consumers to freely access online services, compared to the original text proposed by the Commission.

Reduced mobile phone roaming charges was the popular leading act in the European Commission's proposal to harmonise the telecoms sector, which also included controversial attempts to level EU access to the internet and radio spectra.

Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes on Thursday (30 May) called for an end to mobile roaming charges before the next European elections, and said mobile network operators should no longer be able to block telecommunications services such as Skype.

The European Commission wants to ensure that consumers can have full access to high-speed Internet at any time but refrained from regulating on so-called "net neutrality" for now, saying the remedy may be worse than the disease.

The European Parliament adopted yesterday (17 November) a clear-cut position on net neutrality, giving the priority to maintaining an open Internet for all rather than increasing its use for commercial purposes.

The EU's data security watchdog has warned of “serious implications” for privacy and data protection if a disproportionate approach is taken to ensure net neutrality like filtering network traffic on a grand scale.

The European Commission will unveil proposals to foster a neutral and competitive Internet on Tuesday (19 April), drawing praise from big industry for its cautiousness while consumer groups and activists lament its lack of substance.