Letter to MEPs - Plenary vote NN (03.04.2014)

31 March 2014

Telecom Regulation: Defend freedom of communication and innovation

Dear Member of the European Parliament,

On the 3rd of April you will have the opportunity to enshrine Net Neutrality in EU law. Before the end of your mandate, you can thus assist at the protection of freedom and democracy. Positive amendments have been tabled by the Social-Democrats (S\&D), the Greens (Greens/EFA), the United Left (GUE/NGL) and the Liberals (ALDE). We understand that telecom companies (in particular those represented by ETNO) have been circulating a lot of misguiding information about these amendments. As we explain below however, adopting them is the only way to effectively enact Net Neutrality and thus guarantee the freedom of expression and information online, as well as fair competition in the digital economy. While safeguarding the ability of telecom operators to launch innovative “specialised services”, these amendments would guarantee that innovative small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can benefit from a level playing-field. They also aim to guarantee users' freedom to choose the services they prefer.

Defining Net Neutrality through normative provisions

Amendments 234/241 Article 2 – paragraph 2
ITRE report	Amendments
	(12 a) (new) “net neutrality” means the principle that all internet traffic is treated equally, without discrimination, restriction or interference, independent of its sender, receiver, type, content, device, service or application.

Amendments 235/242 Article 2 – paragraph 2
ITRE report	Amendments
(14) “internet access service” means a publicly available electronic communications service that provides connectivity to the internet, and thereby connectivity between virtually all end points of the internet, irrespective of the network technologies or terminal equipment used;	(14) “internet access service” means a publicly available electronic communications service that provides connectivity to the internet in accordance with the principle of net neutrality, and thereby connectivity between virtually all end points of the internet, irrespective of the network technologies or terminal equipment used;

Creating a strong framework for specialised services

Amendments 235/242 Article 2 – paragraph 2
ITRE report	Amendments
(15) 'specialised service' means an electronic communications service optimised for specific content, applications or services, or a combination thereof, provided over logically distinct capacity and relying on strict admission control with a view to ensuring enhanced quality from end to end and that is not marketed or usable as a substitute for internet access service;	(15) “specialised service” means an electronic communications service optimised for specific content, applications or services, or a combination thereof, provided over logically distinct capacity, relying on strict admission control, offering functionality requiring enhanced quality from end to end and that is not marketed or usable as a substitute for internet access service;

Amendments 236/243 Article 23 – paragraph 2
ITRE report	Amendments
2. Providers of internet access, of electronic communications to the public and providers of content, applications and services shall be free to offer specialised services to users. Such services shall only be offered if the network capacity is sufficient to provide them in addition to internet access services and they are not to the material detriment of the availability or quality of internet access services. Providers of internet access to users shall not discriminate between such services.	2. Providers of internet access, of electronic communications to the public and providers of content, applications and services shall be free to offer specialised services to end-users. Such services shall only be offered if the network capacity is sufficient to provide them in addition to internet access services and they are not to the detriment of the availability or quality of internet access services. Providers of internet access to end-users shall not discriminate between functionally equivalent services or applications.

Banning contractual restrictions to Net Neutrality

Amendments 236/243 Article 23 – paragraph 2
ITRE report	Amendments
5. Within the limits of any contractually agreed data volumes or speeds for internet access services, providers of internet access services shall not restrict the freedoms provided for in paragraph 1 by blocking, slowing down, altering or degrading specific content, applications or services, or specific classes thereof, except in cases where it is necessary to apply traffic management measures. Traffic management measures shall be transparent, non-discriminatory, proportionate and necessary to:	5. Providers of internet access services and end-users may agree to set limits on data volumes or speeds for internet access services. Providers of internet access services shall not restrict the freedoms provided for in paragraph 1 by blocking, slowing down, altering, discriminating or degrading specific content, applications or services, or specific classes thereof, except in cases where it is necessary to apply traffic management measures. Traffic management measures shall be transparent, non-discriminatory, proportionate and necessary to:

Preventing abuse in traffic management measures during congestion

Amendments 236/243 Article 23 – paragraph 2
ITRE report	Amendments
d) prevent or mitigate the effects of temporary or exceptional network congestion provided that equivalent types of traffic are treated equally.	d) prevent or mitigate the effects of temporary and exceptional network congestion provided that equivalent types of traffic are treated equally