Throttling prohibited: AKVorrat files first complaint for infringement of net neutrality
New EU rules regarding net neutrality are being brought to use for the first time by AKVorrat. By filing a complaint with the telecom regulator RTR the Austrian NGO, which is representing several users, has documented illegal discrimination of Internet services by the mobile provider Hutchison Drei in Austria.
When a client has used up their data volume, "Drei" throttles only Internet services whose operators have no partnership deal with "Drei" or are directly run by "Drei". Thus the ISP is misusing its abilities to control their clients' Internet connection in order to gain an unfair advantage for the company and/or its partners.
Keeping services by the ISP and its partners running after expiration of a client’s data volume, while other services are throttled, is a clear breach of rules on net neutrality. This enables an ISP to offer more and more of its own additional services, in effect deciding what services are available for the client, instead of adapting available data volumes to demand and network capacity. Consequently, the EU regulation and the implementation guidelines set by European regulators (BEREC) clearly prohibit this practice. The national regulator RTR should act accordingly - as quickly as possible.
Furthermore, European regulation provides in article 6 that member states must specify fines for breaking net neutrality provisions in the regulation. The German government has agreed upon a change to the telecommunication law, making breaching net neutrality provisions punishable with a fine up to 500.000 Euro. In the Netherlands, such a fine can reach up to ten percent of annual turnover, i.e. millions. In Austria, Hutchison doesn’t have anything to fear: the federal government has not yet implemented any sanctions, which stands in contrast to what the European regulation stipulates.
How we have been fighting for net neutrality these last three years is described in this article.
UPDATE 2: Our activities have been successful. With the new data plans of "Drei", the practice has been changed.
Since you're here
… we have a small favour to ask. For articles like this, we analyse legal texts, assess official documents and read T&Cs (really!). We make sure that as many people as possible concern themselves with complicated legal and technical content and understand the enormous effects it has on their lives. We do this with the firm conviction that together we are stronger than all lobbyists, powerful decision makers and corporations. For all of this we need your support. Help us be a strong voice for civil society!
Become a supporter now!
