EC warns operators over traffic management

Not afraid to challenge the might of global operators, Neelie Kroes, the EC's VP for the Digital Agenda, has said that mobile operators who block, or degrade, the service quality of certain applications will be forced to inform their subscribers that this is taking place and allow customers to freely switch providers if they wish.

Speaking at The Open Internet and Net Neutrality in Europe last week in Brussels, Kroes reminded operators of their obligations under the telecoms framework, put forth by the European Parliament and Council. Specifically, operators must not use network constraints as an excuse to exploit users.

However, the VP did admit that nearly all within the telecom industry agreed that traffic management was essential. "It is needed not only to optimise the provision of 'best effort services' on the open internet, but also to allow the development of special managed services." Operators should take care to use that traffic management" properly, warned Kroes. Article