The Verhoeven amendment on net neutrality boosts government objectives of having a free and open internet network because it holds dear the interests of the three stakeholders, namely end users, network owners and service providers, Dutch minister of economic affairs Maxime Verhagen wrote to Parliament. The Verhoeven amendment was named after MP Kees Verhoeven of Independent Party D66.
In his letter, Verhagen gives a detailed explanation as to why he is supporting the amendment. The Christian Democratic Party had asked the minister for such an explanation. Verhagen wrote that he would have liked to have more time to write a text himself in order to better oversee market reactions, and also to discuss the matter with other members of the European Commission. The motion put forth by Bruno Braakhuis of Green Party GroenLinks however pushed gears forward.
Verhagen wrote: "The motion was filed at the same time when several mobile telecom providers moved to hamper innovative competing services. The use of services by providers such as Skype and WhatsApp are growing at the expense of traditional revenue streams for telecom companies such as call and SMS. In order to prevent the cannibalisation of their own resources, some providers want to put such services only into more expensive internet subscriptions."
The amendment lays down the principles of net neutrality but its impact on consumers is difficult to forecast, the minister said. "Whether the price of the cheapest internet subscriptions goes up due to the amendment, remains to be seen. It can certainly not be excluded. In order to properly determine what effect the legislation could have on end user communications costs, subscriptions for Internet access will have to be developed together with telephony deals. If, for example, someone uses VoIP more, then that person will need a smaller and cheaper call bundle. The final cost for communication for the end user will depend on what provider propose. It is difficult to make a precise statement about that."
The loss of net neutrality could form a threat to providers of innovative internet services, which may then only become accessible for a small group. The Verhoeven amendment seeks to prevent internet providers from setting up earning models that would dampen the introduction of new services.
Verhagen nevertheless said providers should be able to look for new earnings models to compensate for the loss of traditional revenue streams. The amendment does not hinder that freedom, the minister noted. "There remains, albeit with a limited degree of freedom, the possibility for providers to differentiate by price, speed or data usage," Verhagen said. He did recognise nevertheless that the amendment would force providers to adjust their offerings in a short amount of time.