“On 22 June, the Dutch Parliament passed a law stopping mobile operators from blocking or charging extra for voice calling done via the net,” BBC News reports. “The bill must now pass through the Dutch senate, but its passage is expected to be a formality.”
“The idea it enshrines is that all internet traffic should be treated equally, regardless of its type – be it video, audio, e-mail, or the text of a web page,” The Beeb reports. “However, ISPs said they need to discriminate because unchecked traffic from some applications, such as games or file-sharing programs, can slow down their entire network for all customers. As a result many ISPs throttle, block or charge extra for many bandwidth hungry applications and content.”
The Beeb reports, “While advocates of net neutrality idea praised the Dutch government for the move, the country’s telecommunications companies were disappointed. All major mobile network providers, including Vodafone, T-Mobile and the former Dutch state telecom Royal KPN NV, had lobbied against the bill, warning that they may raise subscription prices if the law was passed.”
“Vodafone said the law would inevitably ‘lead to a large increase in prices for mobile internet for a large group of consumers’ as it could no longer single out heavy users for higher charges,” The Beeb reports. ‘In a statement, KPN said that it regretted “that parliament didn’t take more time for this legislation.'”
Read more in the full article here.