Net Neutrality Must Not Be Weakened

Net neutrality is the foundation of a free and open internet. It ensures that internet service providers treat data equally and do not slow down, block or favour specific content. This principle protects consumers and prevents large companies from gaining unfair competitive advantages through paid prioritisation. From the perspective of the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv), the principle of equal treatment of all data on the internet must be fully preserved. The Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) has published further guidance for companies on the implementation of the Open Internet Regulation.

The Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv)...

• welcomes the objective of providing further clarification of net neutrality rules. The classification of certain specialised services, such as applications that optimise the transmission of medical information from an ambulance to the receiving hospital, creates legal certainty and thereby promotes innovation.
• emphasises, however, that BEREC’s new guidance must not lead to a weakening of net neutrality. Such an outcome could open the door for providers to engage in discriminatory practices for commercial purposes.
• sees a risk that net neutrality rules could gradually be eroded. Certain applications, such as virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR), would be allowed to receive preferential treatment under specific conditions. However, such prioritisation must not have negative effects on other applications using the same network and must remain under users’ control.
• warns against an overly broad use of network slicing and calls on BEREC to revise the guidance accordingly. Network slicing enables differentiated prioritisation of data traffic flows. This should only be permitted where it is technically necessary and must not come at the expense of other applications operating on the same network.