There is no doubt that the net neutrality debate has recently come to the forefront of the European Commission's digital agenda.
After the conclusion of EU telecoms package reform in 2009, the European Commission declared its commitment to "preserving the open and neutral character of the internet, taking full account of the will of the co-legislator now to enshrine net neutrality as a policy objective and regulatory principle to be promoted by national regulation authorities". Moreover, according to Article 8, paragraph 4, letter g) of the Framework Directive, as recently amended by Directive 2009/140/CE, national authorities are required to promote the ability of end users to access and distribute information or run application and service(emphasis added).
But what happens in Italy? On March 7th, 2011, the Italian Communication Authority ("AGCOM") launched a public consultation on net neutrality (Resolution no. 40/11/CONS), which follows the consultation on Voice Internet Protocol - VOIP and "peer-to-peer" services launched on March 5th, 2011 (Resolution no. 39/11/CONS). The public consultation on net neutrality is aimed at: (i) obtaining background information from the so called "stakeholders", (ii) investigating what are the main issues involving the implementation of net neutrality in Italy; and (iii) promoting the net neutrality debate.
The consultation mainly focuses on the following areas:
- recent developments of mobile media service and their impact on consumers;
- information and transparency duties;
- competition issues;
- the social value of the net neutrality principle.
Until May 5th, 2011, all interested parties (i.e. market operators, consumers, etc.) are invited to respond to the consultation. Please contact me, Matia Campo (matia.campo@dlapiper.com) if you want to discuss the topic.