UK broadcasters: Net neutrality a must
October 5, 2011
Online content drives demand for broadband, bringing fixed and mobile revenues of €155 billion in Europe in 2010, according to a report commissioned by the BBC, Channel 4, Blinkbox, Skype and Yahoo.
The report, by Plum Consulting has been published to help lobby the Government that the existing open internet and their content helps drive growth for telecoms companies, rather than limit their growth by being bandwidth hungry.
The BBC, Channel 4, Blinkbox, Skype and Yahoo decided to commission the report ready of a Government-hosted “open internet roundtable” this Autumn.
ISOs, of course, argue that there should be a tiered or managed access to the internet in Europe because uses like online video, put a much bigger strain on the bandwidth delivered.
The Plum report recommends that EU institutions, national governments and regulators should signal a clear commitment to safeguarding the Open Internet and that the application of an industry code of conduct and dispute resolution procedures, through “self regulation with oversight”, should be promoted.
In March, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) held a roundtable with ISPs, content providers, broadcasters, mobile operators and trade bodies to discuss the issues around the idea of web management.
The Government has since promised to follow up with a meeting this Autumn at a similar time that Ofcom is set to release guidelines on web management