euro news_news 24/04/2014 12:19 Page 5
EC: European online
service not good enough
T
wenty-four per cent of
European Internet users say
they are prevented by their
providers from watching videos,
listening music or using other
applications of their choice,
according to a new Eurobarometer
survey of 28,000 citizens across the
EU. The findings have led to a call
from European Commission Vice
President Neelie Kroes for an open
Internet across
Europe giving
consumers new
rights and
transparency
regarding their
Internet connection.
The survey found that:
l 41% experience
problems watching
a video on a mobile
device and 37% on
the fixed Internet
connection at home
(due to speed
limitations or blocking of content)
l 23% experience problems
listening to music on their mobile
device,
l 23% experience problems
uploading content on Facebook,
blogs or forums through their
mobile device
l 19% experience problems playing
online games at desk computer,
l 9% experience problems using
Internet-delivered phone calls
The survey shows that:
l 60% of customers do not know
their Internet speed.
l Of those who know their speed,
26% say that they do not get a
speed which matches the terms of
their contract.
l 40% of all respondents have
experienced an Internet connection
break down.
European Commission Vice
President Neelie Kroes said: “When
you buy an Internet subscription you
should get access to all content, and
you should get it at the speed you
have paid for. That is what the open
Internet should be, and all Europeans
should have access to it.”
The findings of the study reinforce
evidence reported by the Body of
European Regulators for Electronic
Communications in 2012 on net
neutrality and open Internet.
“My goal is to protect consumers
by guaranteeing an open internet
across Europe and by giving them new
rights and transparency regarding
their Internet connection. My goal is
also to protect innovation, so that
anyone can innovate on
the open internet and
alongside the internet
without harming it. This
would ultimately
promote more
competition and choice
for the benefit of
consumers,” Kroes
stated.
The Commission's
proposed Connected
Continent Regulation
(MEMO/13/779) aims at
a single market for
Internet and communications. The
Proposal is currently being discussed
by the European Union's legislators
(European Parliament and Council).
This proposal would deliver an open
Internet for all citizens in Europe and
enhance transparency by requiring
operators to provide their customers
with accurate information about the
speed and quality of the Internet
service they provide.
It would end discriminatory
blocking and throttling and deliver
effective protection of the open
Internet. It sets out clear rules
regarding traffic management banning
such management except in
exceptional circumstances. It also
enables the provision of “specialised
services” such as high definition video
services and eHealth services which
promote innovation and choice in
telecoms markets, but it enables them
in a way which maintains the quality
of general Internet access. Using this
approach, operators would continue
to be able to compete for consumers
on price and quality differences (for
example, different Internet speeds or
data volumes) that best match
customers' needs.
Puttnam: 'Copyright
needs cherishing’
Lord (David) Puttnam, president of
Film Distributors’ Association (FDA),
has declared that respect for
copyright still needs to be argued for,
and that in a well-run world, the
copyright system would be cherished,
not merely respected or tolerated.
Puttnam's remarks came as he
delivered a keynote speech to a large
audience from across the UK film
industry in central London. The event
coincided with the publication of the
FDA Yearbook 2014 covering the
previous year’s cinema-going in the UK.
Puttnam’s over-arching theme was
digital media convergence and the
crucial que