Andrew Charlesworth, Computing, Tuesday 28 September 2010 at 18:05:00
Early analysis of consultation submissions has not changed core thinking
Telecoms regulator Ofcom has reviewed submissions to its consultation on Despite protestations from various groups that some network operators? ?Ofcom is committed to dealing swiftly with problems as they emerge, but we Bowers said any intervention by the regulator ?will have to be a process that The issue of net neutrality ? the concept embedded in internet protocols The fear among proponents of a fully open internet is that dominant ISPs will The UK regulator has interpreted the net neutrality debate purely in terms of The UK has a more competitive internet access market than the US, where the However, Ofcom accepts that this requires a high level of transparency from The latter may well be addressed through regulation: giving consumers the
internet traffic management and does not see the need to step in as regulator.
The
consultation, which closed on 9 September, sought industry views on a
variety of issues around traffic management by ISPs, including whether
regulation was required to set a minimum quality of service for open internet
access.
traffic management could discriminate against some content or application
providers, Ofcom does not see sufficient evidence and is not about to regulate.
are also committed to approach issues in such a way as not to assume a problem
before a problem has emerged,? Ofcom international director Alex Bowers told an
audience of telecoms professionals at the Westminster e-Forum in London today.
?We will not regulate ahead of a problem and impose a market structure on the
industry.?
is led by real evidence and real manifestations of problems arising, and that is
simply not there yet".
that all data packets are treated equally by ISPs which ensure their "best
efforts" to forward them to their destination ?
has
caused sharp debate in the US.
strike commercial deals with large content providers to give their traffic
priority to the detriment of other content, stifling innovation and even
threatening free speech ? anathema in the US. The Federal Trade Commission was
on the verge of enshrining "best efforts" in regulation but has
delayed
the decision.
the pros and cons of traffic management. The regulator?s reasoning is that if
consumers find the traffic shaping used by their ISP to be ?uncongenial? to
their internet access experience, they should be free to switch ISP.
choice is essentially between two major suppliers.
ISPs about the traffic shaping they use, a clear translation from technical
jargon to language that spells out how that affects a consumer?s specific
access, and an easy switching regime, none of which currently exists.
right to a 12-month internet access contract so they are not locked in to an
ISP. This provision will probably be introduced under the
EU?s
Revised Telecoms Framework, although the UK government has yet to decide how
to implement the Framework, said Bowers.
Full story at http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2270626/ofcom-regulation-net-neutrality
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