New Dutch law will stop mobile networks from blocking access to competitor services, say reports

The new law would make it illegal to stop subscribers using technology such as internet phone call service Skype. The lower house of the Dutch parliament passed the law which bans networks from blocking or charging for rival communications services on Tuesday, according to the New York Times.

"The blocking of services or the imposition of a levy is a brake on innovation,” Maxime Verhagen, Dutch deputy prime minister said, according to a report by the New York Times.

"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," Verhagen said, according to the report.

The new law is being described as an equivalent to 'net neutrality' laws previously proposed in the US. Backers of the principle of net neutrality want communications networks to be stopped from giving preferential treatment to businesses that pay them or by degrading customers' access to competing technologies.

ISPs, such as Vodafone, T-Mobile and the former Dutch state-owned telecoms company KPN had opposed the introduction of the new law in The Netherlands, a report by the BBC said.
The new law was developed after KPN said it was to charge customers extra for using Skype and WhatsApp, a text messaging service, the BBC report said.

The UK Government has previously said that net neutrality laws are not needed in this country, but an analyst said that he expects more European countries to enshrine net neutrality measures into law, according to the New York Times report.

“I could also see some countries following the Dutch example,” Jacques de Greling, an analyst at Natixis, a French bank, said, according to the report.

“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,” de Greling said, according to the report.

The net neutrality debate has been most lively in the US, where telecoms companies have said that content producers should share the cost of network building and maintenance.

Opponents of that view claim that subscribers' fees to ISPs should buy them access to all information equally, not to a service in which some is prioritised because of deals between ISPs and content producers.

US regulators voted in December to create new rules governing net neutrality that included allowing companies to pay for a faster service. Congress will decide whether to include the new rules in law.

Pan-EU lawmakers have so far only issued guidance on the principles of net neutrality, but Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission, said in April she would review current practices and decide if "more stringent" measures needed to be introduced.

"At the end of 2011, I will present the findings and will publicly name operators engaging in doubtful practices," Kroes said in April.

"I will be looking particularly closely for any instances of unannounced blocking or throttling of certain types of traffic, and any misleading advertising of broadband speeds," Kroes said.

"If I am not satisfied that consumers can counteract such practices by switching providers, I will not hesitate to introduce more stringent measures. That could be in the form of more prescriptive guidance, or even legislation if it is needed," Kroes said.

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