Zero-rating: deluje dobro za potrošnika, v praksi diskriminacija

Slovenski mobilni operaterji, ki so se znašli v postopku, se bodo na odločitev regulatorja pritožili

Miha Pongrac   •   RTV Slovenija, Val 202, Reakcija

O internetni nevtralnosti smo nedavno govorili v oddaji Odbita do bita, ker pa je v tem kratkem času prišlo do pomembnega razvoja dogodkov – odločbo o kršitvi internetne nevtralnosti v Sloveniji sta poleg Simobila in Telekoma nedavno dobila še Amis in Tušmobil –, smo se odločili, da problematiko predstavimo širše.

Another win for net neutrality advocates in Slovenia: AKOS issues new decisions limiting zero-rating

Friday’s decisions on net neutrality issued by AKOS are another big win in a row for Slovenian citizens and net neutrality advocates. In the new decisions AKOS bans a zero-rated mobile TV service and web portal provided by AMIS (Mobia TV) and Tušmobil (Tuškamra), respectively. Following the previous two decisions, issued four weeks ago, the latest decisions further bolster net neutrality and limit zero-rating practices of mobile network and virtual network operators.

Telekom Slovenije and Si.mobil found in breach of net neutrality

It is now official that Slovenia’s largest mobile network operators Telekom Slovenije and Si.mobil have breached net neutrality. A national sector regulator AKOS announced its decisions on Friday. Both operators confirmed to have received the decisions ordering them within 60 days to stop discriminating against internet traffic by music streaming service Deezer (Telekom Slovenije) and cloud storage service Hanger Mapa (Si.mobil). The decisions are final and only an administrative dispute or extraordinary judicial review are allowed.

Zero-rating: Slovenian regulator exposed to excessive pressure

Interview with Dusan Caf, Chairman of the Slovenian Electronic Communications Council

By  Nathalie Steiwer  •  05 January 2015

Slovenia is one of two EU member states - along with the Netherlands - which has adopted legislation on net neutrality. How is this legislation applied?

A text was adopted in 2012 and entered into force in January 2013. Thus far, the regulator has not intervened, saying that there has not been any violation of the rules. The problem is that the regulator comes from he industry - and shares its point of view. The pressure is even greater since the State is currently selling its 73% share in Telekom Slovenije.

In your blog you criticise the regulator’s lack of reaction to ‘zero rating’ - what is the problem here?

At the end of 2013, Slovenian operators launched offers that gave their subscribers unlimited access to certain internet services which are not included in their monthly data limit. Telekom Slovenije, for example, offered subscribers unlimited access to video services  ... continue reading → 

Zero-Rating Violates Slovenian Net Neutrality Law

In late 2013 Telekom Slovenije offered zero-rated content and services as part of its mobile data plans, where specific types of traffic were exempted from data caps and could be used without any volume limits (or the limits were significantly higher than those of the data caps). Its offer included HBO GO and UEFA Champions League video streaming services, as well as its own cloud data storage service (TViN Shramba). A few months later the operator expanded the offer with a popular music streaming service Deezer. 

The competition authority and sector regulator seem to believe that Telekom with its zero-rated offers has not breached net neutrality and competition laws. In contrast, our analysis reveals that zero-rated content, services or applications provided or used via internet access services have been forbidden since January 2013.