Body of European telecom regulators adopts guidelines on net neutrality

BEREC, the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications, has published a set of Guidelines on the Implementation by National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) of European Network Neutrality Rules. The Guidelines are aimed to assist NRAs in implementing their net neutrality-related obligations, including those ‘to closely monitor and ensure compliance with the rules to safeguard equal and non-discriminatory treatment of traffic in the provision of Internet access services and related end-user rights’. A draft version of the Guidelines was subject to a 6 week public consultation, which resulted in over 400 000 contributions submitted to BEREC. The Body also published a consultation report summarising the contributions and explaining how they have been taken into account. The Guidelines were received with enthusiasm by Internet activists (who see them as a win for net neutrality in the EU), and with a degree of reticence by telecom operators (who argued that most of their concerns have not been taken into account).