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<font face="sans-serif">A very positive move.<br>
<br>
I am eager to know what happens if instead of levying extra
charges on a particular service, if a particular service, or a
package of them, are being offered at a price less than that of
the public Internet. Does this regulation and mentioned penalties
apply in that case as well. Because offering some services cheap
is the same thing as offering the rest of the services at a
premium.<br>
<br>
I ask this because this is the way net neutrality is being
violated on mobiles in India at present. Telecoms offer a package
of services like Facebook, google, youtube etc for a cheap lump
sum. I am not sure if they get paid by these companies for this or
not. <br>
<br>
I think this will be a model that will catch on in developing
countries. Such a model has to do with the structural conditions
in developing countries, and therefore is an important development
issue, of the kind that I see the IGF mostly skirt. <br>
<br>
Parminder <br>
</font><br>
On Friday 24 June 2011 07:42 PM, michael gurstein wrote:
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<div class="publication">The International <span
id="hitDiv1" class="hitText"><b><font
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<span id="hitDiv1" class="hitText"><b><font
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Times</font></strong></span></div>
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<div class="story"><span id="hitDiv2" class="hitText"><b><font
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23, 2011 Thursday </div>
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<div class="story">FINANCE; Pg. 1 </div>
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<td><span class="headline" align="LEFT"><strong><font
color="#0560bb" face="Arial" size="2">Dutch ban
extra Net phone fees; <br>
Under law, telecoms may no longer charge for
using services like Skype</font></strong></span></td>
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<div class="story">BY KEVIN O'BRIEN</div>
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ABSTRACT The Netherlands has become the first
country in Europe to ban its mobile operators from
blocking or charging consumers extra for using
Internet-based services like Skype. <br>
<br>
FULL TEXT The Netherlands on Wednesday became the
first country in Europe, and only the second in the
world, to enshrine the concept of network neutrality
into national law by banning its mobile telephone
operators from blocking or charging consumers extra
for using Internet-based communications services
like Skype or WhatsApp, a free text service. The
measure, which was adopted with a broad majority in
the lower house of the Dutch Parliament, the Tweede
Kamer, will prevent KPN, the Dutch
telecommunications market leader, and the Dutch
units of Vodafone and T-Mobile, from blocking or
charging for Internet services. Its sponsors said
that the measure would pass a pro-forma review in
the Dutch Senate without hitches. Analysts said that
the legal restrictions imposed in the Netherlands
could shape Europe's broader, evolving debate over
network neutrality, pushing more countries on the
Continent to limit operators from acting as
self-appointed toll collectors of the mobile
Internet. ''I could also see some countries
following the Dutch example,'' said Jacques de
Greling, an analyst at Natixis, a French bank. ''I
believe there will be pressure from consumers to
make it clear what they are buying, whether it is
the full Internet or Internet-light.'' Advocates
hailed the move as a victory for consumers, while
industry officials predicted that mobile broadband
charges could rise in the Netherlands to compensate
for the new restrictions. ''We support network
neutrality,'' said Sandra de Jong, a spokeswoman for
Consumentenbond, the largest Dutch consumer
organization, based in The Hague. ''We don't think
operators should be able to restrict the Internet.
That would be a bad precedent.'' Luigi Gambardella,
the chairman of the executive board of the European
Telecommunications Network Operators' Association,
an industry group based in Brussels, warned that the
Dutch legislation could deter operators from making
needed investments in high-speed networks for fear
of building expensive but unprofitable
infrastructure. ''Any additional regulation should
avoid deterring investment or innovative business
models, leading to a more efficient use of the
networks and to creating new business
opportunities,'' Mr. Gambardella said. He said
operators needed the ability to charge different
tariffs for different levels of service, to recoup
the costs of data-intensive applications. Operators
could still offer a range of mobile data tariffs
with different download speeds and levels of
service, but they would not be able to tie specific
rates to the use of specific free Internet services.
Under the law, Dutch operators could be fined up to
10 percent of their annual sales for violations by
the national telecommunications regulator, OPTA.
Patrick Nickolson, a spokesman for KPN, said that
the measure could lead to higher broadband prices in
the Netherlands because operators would be limited
in their ability to structure differentiated data
packages based on consumption. ''We regret that the
Dutch Parliament didn't take more time to consider
this,'' Mr. Nickolson said. ''This will limit our
ability to develop a new portfolio of tariffs and
there is at least the risk of higher prices, because
our options to differentiate will now be more
limited.'' Stephen Collins, the head of government
and regulatory affairs in London for Skype,
applauded the move by the Dutch lawmakers. ''Skype
welcomes the sensible and fair approach the Dutch
Parliament has adopted today,'' Mr. Collins said.
''It sets an example for other countries in Europe
and elsewhere to follow.'' Bruno Braakhuis, a Dutch
legislator from Haarlem who was the original sponsor
of the legislation, called the adoption a victory
for Dutch consumers. ''For us, this is really a
basic right,'' said Mr. Braakhuis, a member of the
GreenLeft party. ''We consider network neutrality to
be as important as freedom of the press, freedom of
speech.'' The Dutch restrictions on operators are
the first in the 27-nation European Union. The
European Commission and European Parliament have
endorsed network neutrality guidelines but as yet
have taken no legal action against operators that
block or impose extra fees on consumers using
services like Skype, the voice and video Internet
service being acquired by Microsoft, and WhatsApp, a
mobile software maker which is based in Santa Clara,
California. Sanctions may be coming, however. In
May, the European telecommunications commissioner,
Neelie Kroes, warned operators to stop blocking or
charging extra for Skype or she would take
unspecified action this year. So far, only a few
operators, like 3 UK of Britain, a unit of the Hong
Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, have allowed
their customers to have unfettered use of Internet
services with their flat-rate wireless data
packages. Maxime Verhagen, the Dutch deputy prime
minister who supported the net neutrality
restrictions, said that the new rules would ensure
that Internet services were never threatened. ''The
blocking of services or the imposition of a levy is
a brake on innovation,'' Mr. Verhagen said. ''That's
not good for the economy. This measure guarantees a
completely free Internet which both citizens and the
providers of the online services can then rely on.''
Besides the Netherlands, only one country, Chile,
has written network neutrality requirements into its
telecommunications law. The Chilean law, which was
approved in July 2010, only took effect in May. In
the United States, an attempt by the Federal
Communications Commission to impose a similar set of
network neutrality restrictions on U.S. operators, a
bid to prevent them from blocking or imposing fees
on data-intensive services, has been tied up in
legal challenges from the industry. The debate over
net neutrality in the Netherlands erupted in May
when Eelco Blok, the new chief executive of KPN, the
former phone monopoly, announced plans to create a
new set of mobile data tariffs that included charges
on services like WhatsApp that allow smartphone
users to avoid operator charges for sending text
messages. Use of the free text service has spread
rapidly, eroding operator text revenues. According
to KPN, 85 percent of the company's customers who
use a Google Android phone downloaded WhatsApp onto
their handsets from last August through April. As a
result, KPN's revenue from text messaging, which had
risen 8 percent in the first quarter of 2010 from a
year earlier, declined 13 percent in the first
quarter of this year. At a presentation to investors
in London on May 10, analysts questioned where KPN
had obtained the rapid adoption figures for
WhatsApp. A midlevel KPN executive explained that
the operator had deployed analytical software which
uses a technology called deep packet inspection to
scrutinize the communication habits of individual
users. The disclosure, widely reported in the Dutch
news media, set off an uproar that fueled the
legislative drive, which in less than two months
culminated in lawmakers adopting the Continent's
first net neutrality measures with real teeth. </div>
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