The European Parliament has approved legislation aimed at strengthening the single market in telecom services. The so-called 'Connected Continent' package notably brings an end to additional charges for mobile roaming in the EU and introduces the concept of net neutrality in EU law. From 15 December 2015, operators will no longer be able to charge higher prices for roaming in the region, for voice, SMS or data. These must be in line with national charges. The EU regulator Berec will develop criteria to allow fair-use policies, so operators can still prevent misuse of the roaming services.
The MEPs also strengthened the net neutrality proposal compared to the European Commission's initial text. This prevents ISPs from blocking or throttling certain applications or services on their networks. The EC had proposed allowing an exception to the rule so ISPs could give priority to certain "special services", but the Parliament tightened the definition of these services in order to avoid a major loophole in the law. Under the adopted text, only services that are not readily available through the internet, such as medical applications, can fall under the 'special services' definition. These special services furthermore cannot impact the 'open' nature of the rest of the internet, by restricting the bandwidth available to other applications or users. Regulators will also be able to set minimum quality requirements for access to an 'open' internet.
The law will only come into effect after negotiations between the Parliament and EU Council of member states on the final text of the legislation. European Commissioner Neelie Kroes, who proposed the original package last autumn, said she expects a final agreement by the end of 2014.
Telecom industry groups immediately criticised the legislation passed, saying it fails to meet the Commission's original goal of stimulating economic growth, jobs and investment. ETNO, the lobby group for incumbent network operators, said it was particularly concerned about the net neutrality clause, the lack of harmonisation in consumer provisions and uncertainty over the various roaming regulations in play. It said the legislation will result in an "excessive burden for the EU telecoms sector". Mobile industry group the GSMA was also critical of the net neutrality requirements, saying that limiting operators ability to charge for differentiated services will undermine their ability to invest in new networks.
Both groups acknowledged a few positive elements in the legislation, particularly in terms of spectrum harmonisation. However, they called for "significant corrections" in the final text of the law, as well as a renewed focus among policy makers on reforming the existing telecom regulatory framework for network access.
