The EBU singled out the forthcoming 5G mobile platform as a focal point for net neutrality, given that some Telcos and cellular operators are hoping that the extra capacity will allow wriggle room for giving some services preferential treatment. This, the EBU argued, would contravene the spirit of net neutrality, which is supposed to treat all Internet data traffic and the overlying services exactly the same.

EBU Head of European Affairs Nicola Frank said: “We consider a robust net neutrality EU policy to be crucial for the development of an open and interoperable 5G technology platform. The implementation of clear and strong EU net neutrality rules can go hand-in-hand with a rapid deployment of 5G.”

She added: “The implementation of net neutrality rules must not result in the creation of an internet ‘slow lane’ alongside internet “toll roads” which are prohibitively expensive or restricted on the basis of the network’s strategic interests.”

The latter looked like a reference to Swedish Telco Telia offering free internet access just for the Facebook application. This is an example of zero rating, whereby all data associated with a specific service, app or web site is free. There is also the closely related concept of sponsored data, where again all data associated with an app or service is free but this time actually paid for not by the operator but the third party provider, which would be Facebook in that Telia example.

The EBU intervention is significant in two contexts, one being that Europe has so far taken a laxer line over net neutrality than the US by indicating that services such as premium video can be given a higher QoS providing they do not in any way slow down other services. It appears to allow operators to exploit increasing bandwidth to fence some off for privileged services while still being able to maintain the same capacity as before for remaining traffic. The stricter US view is that all services should benefit equally from increasing network capacity, which plays very much into the EBU view that strict net neutrality should hold for 5G. The point is that 5G will bring greatly enhanced capacity along with opportunities for a whole range of new services, including Ultra HD video as well as applications around the Internet of Things (IoT). This is emphasized in a report published in June 2016 by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the US science and technology think tank.

This report called 5G and Next Generation Wireless: Implications for Policy and Competition argued that the ongoing development of next-generation 5G wireless technologies represented a “unique opportunity to radically expand the capacity and flexibility of wireless networks, with profound implications for broadband competition and productivity growth.” It added that policymakers at the national and local level should support the development of 5G wireless networks, primarily by ensuring new spectrum is available and by streamlining deployment of physical infrastructure. “With 5G, we will move beyond networks built only for mobile phones and toward networks that connect all kinds of devices,” said Doug Brake, ITIF’s telecommunications policy analyst and the report’s author. “5G means wildly increased capacity for broadband, enabling ultra-high-definition streaming and augmented reality, but also far more numerous and less costly connections to support the growth of the Internet of Things. But policymaker support to streamline deployment at the local level will be key to seeing it truly flourish.”

This dovetails with the second context of the EBU’s intervention in the net neutrality debate, which is convergence between broadcasting and mobile. The EBU has been tirelessly fighting a rearguard action to defend terrestrial broadcast spectrum against the ongoing advance by mobile operators, but has really only succeeded in slowing down that process. Now the thrust is more about converged networks and ensuring that broadcasters are able to deliver their content at high QoS over mobile services. It does not want mobile operators doing special deals with the big Internet players like Facebook, Google and Apple, either for privileged QoS or zero rated data, which would militate against its members’ offerings.