The European Commission has published the results of its public consultation on net neutrality, which suggest legislation on the issue is unlikely to be forthcoming in the near term. The commission said there was a "near consensus" among respondents to the consultation on the importance of preserving the openness of the internet. A total of 318 stakeholders at every level of the value chain provided input to the consultation. The consultation did not reveal a widespread call for further EU legislation, but there is an expectation that additional guidance may be needed in the future, the EC said. Industry players in particular did not see the need for additional regulations, and the large majority of respondents considered the current EU telecoms framework should be assessed first before implementing additional measures. Other respondents were more concerned about the use of certain traffic management techniques by operators and the development of new managed service business models. The commission was asked to provide clarity on the distinction between the "best-efforts" internet and "managed services". BEREC, the body of EU telecoms regulators, warned of possible problems of discrimination leading to anti-competitive effects, the potential longer-term consequences for the internet economy in terms of innovation and freedom of expression, and uncertainties for consumers due to lack of transparency. Blocking of VoIP services and bandwidth throttling of sites also raised concerns for many respondents. The responses included few calls for minimum quality-of-service requirements at this stage, but clear support for industry-wide standards on transparency to enable consumers to make informed choices, the EC said. Many respondents consider that transparency by itself would not allay all net neutrality concerns, particularly where there are barriers to switching between ISPs. The EC will discuss the results further at the Net Neutrality summit starting 11 November, where it will also meet with the European Parliament to look at the EC's upcoming report on net neutrality.
