Operators eye Europe's net- neutrality plan nervously

摘要

A number of Europe's telecoms operators have ex- pressed concern about the apparently far-reaching scope of a European Commission proposal designed to protect the concept of net neutrality. In a July document published as part of its 2006 review of Europe's telecoms regulatory framework, the Commission proposes to give national regulators (NRAs) the power to force operators to provide minimum levels of quality of service (QoS) for internet content travelling over their networks (see "The Commission's proposal" box). This, the Commission reasons, would ensure that all internet services remain accessible at an acceptable level to users, even if operators decide to give priority to their own or those of preferred partners.