Hasta La Gadget!

The rumors were on the mark — as part of a larger telecom plan, the European Commission’s Neelie Kroes has proposed regulation that would largely scrap roaming fees. The measure would ban all charges for incoming calls within the EU after July 1st next year, and give carriers incentives to drop many other roaming fees altogether. Companies would either have to let customers use “roam like at home” plans in EU countries or offer a choice of roaming providers with cheap rates. Outbound, mobile-to-mobile calls within member states would cost no more than €0.19 per minute.

The strategy also includes rules for enforcing net neutrality across the EU. The proposal bans internet providers from blocking and throttling content. Firms could offer priority services like IPTV only as long as these features don’t slow down other subscribers, who could walk away from contracts if they don’t get their advertised speeds. There’s no guarantee that the European Parliament will vote in favor of the new measures, but it’s already clear that the Commission is far from happy with the telecom status quo.

[Image credit: The Council of the European Union]

Filed under: Cellphones, Networking, Internet, Mobile

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Via: Dominic Laurie (Twitter)

Source: European Union

The European Union has only taken baby steps toward proper net neutrality legislation so far. Today, however, the European Commission’s Neelie Kroes just gave the first glimpse of what those continent-wide rules could look like. Her proposals would let companies prioritize traffic, but not block or throttle it. The measures would also prevent gotchas once customers have signed on the dotted line: internet providers would not only have to offer clear terms of service, but make it easier to jump ship for something better. There are concerns that the proposals would let providers favor their own services, but Kroes also makes no arbitrary distinctions (and thus exemptions) between wired and wireless networks, like we’ve seen in the US — can we get these rules elsewhere, please?

[Image credit: The Council of the European Union]

Filed under: Wireless, Networking, Internet

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Via: GigaOM

Source: European Union

When we last checked in on one of Sandvine’s traffic studies, Netflix had just edged past BitTorrent as the largest source of internet traffic in North America while YouTube was still a small-timer. A year has made quite the difference. Netflix is up to 28.8 percent in a new study, while YouTube has moved up to second place with 13.1 percent and demands even more than ordinary web requests. Rivals like Hulu don’t register in the top 10, and YouTube is by far the ruler of mobile with nearly 31 percent of smartphone traffic headed its way. Overall usage is moving up rapidly, no matter what kind of network the continent uses — the typical North American chews up 659MB per month when mobile and a hefty 51GB through a landline. There’s little reason to dispute worries of the impact on bandwidth-strained internet providers, although we suspect most would disagree with Sandvine on what’s to be done. The company naturally sees the study as a chance for business with carriers wanting to curb usage or charge extra through its tools; a generation that grew up with internet access, however, would likely see it as a better excuse to roll out more capacity for all those streaming videos.

Filed under: Networking, Internet, HD

Sandvine: Netflix up to 29 percent of North American internet traffic, YouTube is fast on the rise originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Nov 2012 04:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pitching itself as the first trade alliance to represent the concerns of the online economy, the Internet Association lobbying group has just confirmed its member companies and policy platform. As suspected Amazon, Facebook, eBay, and Google are joined by other large tech firms, under the leadership of Capitol Hill advisor Michael Beckerman, to form the umbrella public policy organization. Citing its three main areas of focus as protecting internet freedom, fostering innovation and economic growth, and empowering users, the Internet Association will represent regulatory and political interests of its member companies, and their employees. There is no word on what the first freedom or innovation to benefit from the associations collaborative-clout will be, but while we wait to find out, you can lobby on the source link for the Mission- and Purpose-statement containing press release.

Continue reading Google, Amazon, Facebook and more confirmed as members of the Internet Association

Filed under: Internet, Alt

Google, Amazon, Facebook and more confirmed as members of the Internet Association originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Sep 2012 11:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Political lobbying is often a mixed bag at best. Still, there’s a cautious amount of optimism surrounding the Internet Association, a soon-to-start lobbying group that plans to advocate for an “open, innovative and free” internet among US politicians. The unsurprising (if well-intentioned) aim is to prevent another SOPA or PIPA with more formal opposition than even the Internet Defense League can manage. Who’ll be pulling the strings is nebulous — officially, the Association will only say that former Congressional staff director Michael Beckerman is at the helm until a formal September 19th launch. That internet openness must extend to some very leaky representatives, however, as the National Journal, AFP and Reuters all claim that Amazon, eBay, Facebook and Google are charter members. None of them are talking on the record; we certainly wouldn’t be shocked if the roster is real, knowing how much Google and other partners have fought takedown laws that would bypass much of the normal legal system. We’re hoping that whatever manifests a genuinely rational counterbalance to media and telecom influences that often aren’t very interested in protecting internet-only business models or due process.

Filed under: Internet

Internet Association to lobby Washington, may tout Amazon, Facebook, Google among its ranks originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jul 2012 11:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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