Ofcom to examine UK network neutrality

Ed Richards, chief executive of Ofcom, said that several media companies have raised concerns about the issue of network neutrality -- the principle that all Internet traffic should be treated the same by Internet service providers -- in the last few months.

"It has been a big issue for historic reasons for many years in the US. It is now beginning to be an issue here," he said. "The deployment of traffic management techniques and policies is now happening in scale." Richards said that Ofcom would publish its initial findings in the spring. "Traffic management policies need to be very clearly explained and very transparent," he said. Richards has indicated that the highly interventionist approach seen in the United States might not be appropriate for the UK and Europe, and that it was "even harder to justify blanket net neutrality rules when we consider the risks they could pose to potential collaborative and desirable investment in networks." "In the US, limited competition, both at the network and the ISP level, means that the potential for consumer detriment through traffic management is greater," he said. "In Europe, as recent research for the FCC indicates, the mixed model -- investment in infrastructure complemented by unbundling of the local loop -- has delivered a more competitive market structure from the exchange back into the network." Richards also said that service providers needed to be more open with consumers about their traffic management policies. "Even if consumers have access to transparent information, they need to understand how traffic management practices will affect their day-to-day experience of a service and be able to assess which product best meets their needs," he said. "This may require substantial effort and time, particularly if the information provided about traffic management practices is fairly technical."