The issue of net neutrality in Europe has become even more complex than normal thanks to the issue of VoIP services being blocked on mobile devices.
While services like Skype and Rebtel (News - Alert) have opened up a new frontier for users, it's also proven to be a problem for providers. Such a problem, in fact, that providers have proactively moved to limit their users' access to these programs. The BEREC report detailed that nearly every other mobile phone user in the European Union--as much as 50 percent--was currently locked into a contract with their mobile provider or broadband contract that allowed operators to limit access to either file sharing services or
The EU's Digital Agenda Commissioner, Neelie Kroes, responded to the report by saying that "there are enough problems to warrant strong and targeted action to safeguard consumers". And considering that fully 71 percent of users,
This leaves providers in something of a "catch-22" situation. Providers need users. Users' bills are, after all, how providers make money in the first place. With 18 million looking to jump ship should their current stance not change, the number represents a substantial loss to those mobile providers who hold firm on their stance
There are losses on either side of the equation for providers, so it's not surprising that many are looking for solutions on every front. Users want access to the services they want to use. Providers want to make a decent profit. Until the two can successfully meet, or at least meet in the middle, there will continue to be problems between users and providers.
And a recent report, from the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Commerce--BEREC-,-has shown just why the additional complexity has come into play.VoIP services. The BEREC report further detailed restrictions that were placed on users based on time alone, as 20 percent of operators placed restrictions on users during "peak times". according to a secondary survey from VoIP provider Rebtel, that don't believe their provider actually told them--at least, not in a formal or understandable way--about the restrictions in question when they signed up. The Rebtel survey further revealed that fully 18 million users would jump ship should their providers continue to restrict access to the services they want.about VoIP and file sharing. But at the same time, VoIP and file sharing services, in their own right, represent substantial losses to providers. File sharing services use a lot of bandwidth, and VoIP not only uses bandwidth but also costs providers lost charges in voice calling services.
Edited by Brooke Neuman
Internet Telephony Magazine
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