EU telecom regulators plan to launch a consultation in mid-March on possible conflicts from network slicing under 5G with the EU's net neutrality rules. Johannes Gungl, head of the EU regulators' assembly Berec, said the regulators are looking for input from industry about which 5G use cases could potentially violate net neutrality.
Speaking at the European 5G Conference in Brussels, Gungl underlined that Berec is not looking to question the overall net neutrality regulation. The focus of the public consultation would be to look at what aspects of network slicing may conflict with the regulation or Berec's guidelines on enforcing net neutrality. The aim is to work with industry to identify possible barriers and clear the way for a quick roll-out of 5G, he said, adding that the industry needs certainty and predicability in order to push ahead with 5G investments.
Guillermo Beltra, head of legal and economic affairs at the European consumers alliance Beuc, welcomed Berec’s plan to address the net neutrality issues for 5G. He said the hope is that there won't be any major hurdles and the net neutrality rules remain unchanged. Many of the connectivity services envisaged under 5G would likely qualify as the 'specialised services' exempted from certain net neutrality requirements, he noted, with network slicing the only major issue to address.
