As ISPs throttle, Europe hopes competition will "discipline operators"
Posted in: Mobile & Wireless at 06/06/2012 14:26
Want to make a Skype call through your smartphone in Europe? At least one-fifth of mobile broadband users on the continent face technical or contractual restrictions on their use of VoIP products, while more than a third of European mobile users also have restrictions on their P2P usage.
When it comes to the fixed-line Internet market, the situation with regard to blocking and throttling is better. VoIP is almost never limited, though P2P usage can be. But the real concern comes from wireline companies which manage their network to offer "specialized services" -- think TV, like AT&T's U-verse in the US. Regulators note that 35 percent of wireline operators take various approaches to prioritizing these services in ways "which could potentially affect the (public and best efforts) Internet access service being delivered through the same access network."
To continue reading this Ars Technica report, go to:
arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/06/as-isps-throttle-europe-hopes-competition-will-discipline-operators/
