BEREC Chair – “BEREC and NRAs have a role to make net neutrality implementation a success in Europe”

“European rules on net neutrality cannot be rebutted anymore. […] It is now to national regulators and BEREC to make sure that these rules are properly and consistently implemented over Europe” emphasized BEREC Chair for 2017 Sebastien Soriano (Arcep) at the “Digital-born Media Carnival” in Kotor, Montenegro on 17 July. The event was organised to gather more than hundreds of online media representatives, information explorers and digital rights enthusiasts to discuss the future challenges to the freedom of expression and media professionalism in a connected public sphere.

At the panel discussion “Promises and Perils of Net neutrality”, BEREC Chair Sebastien Soriano explained the benefits and challenges Europe is facing after adopting the rules on net neutrality.

In his intervention, BEREC Chair listed the actions National Regulatory Authorities can take in order to enforce the implementation of the rules (e.g. monitoring of the market, gathering information through questionnaires to the internet service providers (ISPs) and customer complaint platform and realizing measurements to detect traffic management practices).

Such actions do not exclude the NRAs’ capacity to undertake coercive actions (e.g. by requiring to ISPs to  deal with degradation of Internet Access Services (IAS), ceasing or revising problematic traffic management practices, ceasing providing specialised services in certain limited cases and ultimately they can impose fines on ISPs whom practices infringe the Regulation).

Sebastien Soriano again stressed, that BEREC action is not just paperwork. It provides solutions, consistency and legal certainty. BEREC as the umbrella organisation for European Net neutrality rules enforcers has indeed a specific role to make net neutrality implementation a great success in Europe and safeguard an open environment for everyone, consumers, businesses, citizens.

Full BEREC Chair Sebastien Soriano speech at the “Digital-born Media Carnival” in Kotor, Montenegro on 17 July.