European telecom companies should be free to develop new business models, including charging online content providers for delivering their material to consumers, a new report by the chief executives of Deutshe Telekom, Vivendi and Alcatel-Lucent will suggest, the Financial Times reports.
The position paper comes as the European Commission is looking into broadband investment policies in the EC, with some suggesting investment will lag because of inadequate profit potential from “commodity” Internet access.
The ability to create and sell various flavors of broadband access, not simply plans differentiated by price and usage allowance, is seen by many as a necessary precondition for continued investment in higher-capacity access services.
It also is viewed as a requirement for “quality of service” as more users in the future pay for Web-delivered entertainment video, for example.
The outcome of the EC rule-making could have implications for policy in other regions as well. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has been intent on imposing “network neutrality” rules that prohibit Internet access providers from prioritizing some traffic over others, allowing “best effort only” access by fixed-line providers, with so far indeterminate rules for mobile providers.
A decision by the EC to allow priority features or services would prove a challenge to U.S. rule-makers, as the arguments about investment and revenue to support investment are the same in the EC and the United States.
The position paper comes as the European Commission is looking into broadband investment policies in the EC, with some suggesting investment will lag because of inadequate profit potential from “commodity” Internet access.
The ability to create and sell various flavors of broadband access, not simply plans differentiated by price and usage allowance, is seen by many as a necessary precondition for continued investment in higher-capacity access services.
It also is viewed as a requirement for “quality of service” as more users in the future pay for Web-delivered entertainment video, for example.
The outcome of the EC rule-making could have implications for policy in other regions as well. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has been intent on imposing “network neutrality” rules that prohibit Internet access providers from prioritizing some traffic over others, allowing “best effort only” access by fixed-line providers, with so far indeterminate rules for mobile providers.
A decision by the EC to allow priority features or services would prove a challenge to U.S. rule-makers, as the arguments about investment and revenue to support investment are the same in the EC and the United States.
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