BETA

23 Amendments of Cecilia WIKSTRÖM related to 2013/0306(COD)

Amendment 45 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 36
(36) In a context of progressive migration to ‘all IP networks’, the lack of availability of connectivity products based on the IP protocol for different classes of services with assured service quality that enable communication paths across network domains and across network borders, both within and between Member States, hinders the development of applications that rely on access to other networks, thus limiting technological innovation. Moreover, this situation prevents the diffu defined quality of service within closed communications networks using the Internet Protocol with strict admission con a wider scale of efficiencies which are associated with the management and provision of IP-based networks and connectivity products with an assured service quality level, in particular enhanced security, reliability and flexibility, cost-effectiveness and faster provisioning, which benefit network operators, service providers and end userstrol could hinder the development of services that rely on this defined quality in order to function adequately. A harmonised approach to the design and availability of these productservices is therefore necessary, on reasonable terms including, where requested, the possibility of cross-supply by the electronic communications undertakings concernedincluding safeguards to guarantee that the enhanced quality is not functionally identical or to the detriment of the performance, affordability or quality of internet access services or undermines competition, innovation or net neutrality.
2013/12/20
Committee: JURI
Amendment 47 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 45
(45) The internet has developed over the past decades as an open platform for innovation with low access barriers for end-users, content and application providers and internet service providers. The key driver of the unprecedented innovation and economic activity in the digital age has been the fact that all internet traffic is treated equally, without discrimination, restriction or interference, independent of its sender, receiver, type, content, device, service or application; conform the principle of net neutrality. The existing regulatory framework aims at promoting the ability of end-users to access and distribute information or run applications and services of their choice. Recently, however, the report of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) on traffic management practices published in May 2012 and a study, commissioned by the Executive Agency for Consumers and Health and published in December 2012, on the functioning of the market of internet access and provision from a consumer perspective, showed that a significant number of end-users are affected by traffic management practices which block or slow down specific applications. These tendencies require clear rules to enshrine the principle of net neutrality in law at the Union level to maintain the open internet and to avoid fragmentation of the single market resulting from individual Member States' measures.
2013/12/20
Committee: JURI
Amendment 48 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 47
(47) In an open internet, providers of electronic communications to the public should, within contractually agreed limits on data volumes and speeds for internet access services,all not block, slow down, degrade or discriminate against specific content, applications or services or specific classes thereof except for a limited number of clearly defined reasonable traffic management measures. Such measures shouldall be transparent, proportionate and non- discriminatory. Reasonable traffic management could encompasses prevention or impediment of serious crimes, including voluntary actions of providers to prevent access to and distribution of child pornography subject to judicial review. Minimising the effects of network congestion shcould be considered reasonable provided that network congestion occurs only temporarily or in exceptional circumstances.
2013/12/20
Committee: JURI
Amendment 51 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 50
(50) In addition, there is demand on the part of content, applications and services providers, for the provision of transmission services based on flexible quality parameters, including lower levels of priority for traffic which is not time- sensitive. The possibility for content, applications and service providers to negotiate such flexible quality of service levels with providers of electronic communications to the public is necessary for the provision of specialised services and is expected to play an important role incould foster the development of new services such as machine-to-machine (M2M) communications. At the same time such arrangements should allow providers of electronic communications to the public to better balance traffic and prevent network congestion. Providers of content, applications and services and providers of electronic communications to the public should therefore be free to conclude specialised services agreements on defined levels of quality of service as long as such agreements do not substantially impair the general quality of internet access servicesdefined levels of quality are technically necessary for the functionality of the service and these agreements do not impair the quality of internet access services, in accordance with the principle of net neutrality.
2013/12/20
Committee: JURI
Amendment 52 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 51
(51) National regulatory authorities play an essential role in ensuring that end-users are effectively able to exercise this freedom to avail of open internet access. To this end national regulatory authorities should have monitoring and reporting obligations, and ensure compliance of providers of electronic communications to the public and the availability of non-discriminatory internet access services of high quality which are not impaired by specialised services. National regulatory authorities should establish clear and comprehensible notification and redress mechanisms for end-users subjected to discrimination, restriction or interference of online content, services or applications. In their assessment of a possible general impairment of internet access services, national regulatory authorities should take account of quality parameters such as timing and reliability parameters (latency, jitter, packet loss), levels and effects of congestion in the network, actual versus advertised speeds, performance of internet access services compared with specialised services, and quality as perceived by end- users. National regulatory authorities should be empowered to impose minimum quality of service requirements on all or individual providers of electronic communications to the public if this is necessary to prevent general impairment/degradation of the quality of service of internet access services.
2013/12/20
Committee: JURI
Amendment 53 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 2 – point e a (new)
ea) to ensure that all internet traffic is treated equally, without discrimination, restriction or interference, independent of its sender, receiver, type, content, device, service or application;
2013/12/20
Committee: JURI
Amendment 54 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point 12
(12) ‘assured service quality (ASQ) connectivity product’ means a product that is made available at the internet protocol (IP) exchange, which enables customers to set up an IP communication link between a point of interconnection and one or several fixed network termination points, and enables defined levels of end to end network performance for the provision of specific services to end users on the basis of the delivery of a specified guaranteed quality of service, based on specified parameters;deleted
2013/12/20
Committee: JURI
Amendment 55 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point 12 a (new)
(12a) "net neutrality" means the principle that all internet traffic is treated equally, without discrimination, restriction or interference, independent of its sender, receiver, type, content, device, service or application;
2013/12/20
Committee: JURI
Amendment 58 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point 15
(15) ‘specialised service’ means an electronic communications service, or any other service that provides the capability to access specific content, applications or services, or a combination thereof, and whose technical characteristics are controlled from end-to-end or provides the capability to send or receive data to or from a determined number of parties or endpoints; and that is not marketed or widely used as a substitute forperated within closed electronic communications networks using the Internet Protocol with strict admission control; and that is not marketed or used as a substitute for internet access service or functionally identical to services available over the public internet access service;
2013/12/20
Committee: JURI
Amendment 59 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19
Article 19 – Assured service quality (ASQ) connectivity product 1. Any operator shall have the right to provide a European ASQ connectivity product as specified in paragraph 4. 2. Any operator shall meet any reasonable request to provide a European ASQ connectivity product as specified in paragraph 4 submitted in writing by an authorised provider of electronic communications services. Any refusal to provide a European ASQ product shall be based on objective criteria. The operator shall state the reasons for any refusal within one month from the written request. It shall be deemed to be an objective ground of refusal that the party requesting the supply of a European ASQ connectivity product is unable or unwilling to make available, whether within the Union or in third countries, a European ASQ connectivity product to the requested party on reasonable terms, if the latter so requests. 3. Where the request is refused or agreement on specific terms and conditions, including price, has not been reached within two months from the written request, either party is entitled to refer the issue to the relevant national regulatory authority pursuant to Article 20 of Directive 2002/21/EC. In such a case, Article 3(6) of this Regulation may apply. 4. The provision of a connectivity product shall be considered as the provision of a European ASQ connectivity product if it is supplied in accordance with the minimum parameters listed in Annex II and cumulatively meets the following substantive requirements: (a) ability to be offered as a high quality product anywhere in the Union; (b) enabling service providers to meet the needs of their end-users; (c) cost-effectiveness, taking into account existing solutions that may be provided on the same networks; (d) operational effectiveness, in particular in respect of limiting to the extent possible implementation obstacles and deployment costs for customers; and (e) ensuring that the rules on protection of privacy, personal data, security and integrity of networks and transparency in accordance with Union law are respected. 5. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 32 in order to adapt Annex II in light of market and technological developments, so as to continue to meet the substantive requirements listed in paragraph 4.deleted
2013/12/20
Committee: JURI
Amendment 60 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 20 – paragraph 2
2. The Commission may adopt implementing acts laying down uniform technical and methodological rules for the implementation of one or more of the European access products within the meaning of Articles 17 and 19 and of Annex I, points 2 and 3, and Annex II, in accordance with the respective criteria and parameters specified therein. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 33(2).
2013/12/20
Committee: JURI
Amendment 61 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
End-users shall be freeve the right to access and distribute information and content, run applications and use services or devices of their choice via their internet access service, in accordance with the principle of net neutrality.
2013/12/20
Committee: JURI
Amendment 62 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
EWith due account to the principle of net neutrality, end-users shall be free to enter into agreements on data volumes and speeds with providers of internet access services and, in accordance with any such agreements relative to data volumes,, provided they freely and explicitly give their informed consent, and to avail of any offers by providers of internet content, applications and services.
2013/12/20
Committee: JURI
Amendment 64 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
End-users shall also be free to agree with either providers of electronic communications to the public or with providers of content, applications and services on the provision of specialised services with an enhanced quality of service. Where such agreements are concluded with the provider of internet access services, that provider shall ensure that the enhanced quality of service is not to the detriment of the performance, affordability or quality of internet access services, in accordance with the principle of net neutrality.
2013/12/20
Committee: JURI
Amendment 66 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
In order to enable the provision of specialised services to end-users, providers of content, applications and services and providers of electronic communications to the public shall be free to enter into agreements with each other to transmit the related data volumes or traffic within closed electronic communications networks as specialised services with a defined quality of service or dedicated capacity, which are not functionally identical to services available over the public internet access service. The provision of specialised services shall not impair in a recurring the quality of internet access services. Where network continuous manner the general quality of internet access servicesapacity is shared between internet access services and specialised services, the provider of these services shall publish clear and unambiguous criteria based on which network capacity is shared.
2013/12/20
Committee: JURI
Amendment 67 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1 – introductory part
Within the limits of any contractually agreed data volumes or speeds for internet access services, providers of internet access services shall not restrict the freedoms provided for in paragraph 1 by blocking, slowing down, degrading or discriminating against specific content, applications or services, or specific classes thereofProviders of internet access services shall treat all internet traffic in accordance with the principle of net neutrality, except in cases where it is necessary to apply reasonable traffic management measures. Reasonable traffic management measures shall be transparent, non-discriminatory, proportionate, subject to clear, comprehensible and accessible redress mechanisms and necessary to:
2013/12/20
Committee: JURI
Amendment 68 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1 – point a
a) implement a legislative provision or a court order, or prevent or impede serious crimes;
2013/12/20
Committee: JURI
Amendment 69 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1 – point d
d) minimise the effects of temporary or exceptional network congestion provided that equivalent types ofall traffic areis treated equally.
2013/12/20
Committee: JURI
Amendment 70 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 2
Reasonable traffic management shall only entail processing of data that is necessary and proportionate to achieve the purposes set out in this paragraph. Therefore all techniques to inspect or analyse data shall be in accordance with privacy and data protection legislation. By default, such techniques should only examine header information.
2013/12/20
Committee: JURI
Amendment 71 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 24 – paragraph 1
1. National regulatory authorities shall closely monitor and ensure the effective ability of end-users to benefit from the freedoms provided for in Article 23 (1) and (2), compliance with Article 23 (5), and the continued availability of non- discriminatory internet access services in accordance with the principle of net neutrality and at levels of quality that reflect advances in technology and that are not impaired by specialised services. They shall, in cooperation with other competent national authorities, also monitor the effects of specialised services on cultural diversity and innovation. National regulatory authorities shall report on an annual basis to the Commission and BEREC on their monitoring and findings.
2013/12/20
Committee: JURI
Amendment 72 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 24 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. National regulatory authorities shall establish clear and comprehensible notification and redress mechanisms for end-users subjected to discrimination, restriction, interference, blocking or throttling of online content, services or applications.
2013/12/20
Committee: JURI
Amendment 75 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 37 – paragraph 1 – point 3 a (new)
Regulation (EU) No 531/2012
Article 6a
(3a) The following article is inserted: Article 6a Abolition of retail roaming charges With effect from 1 July 2015, roaming providers shall not levy any surcharge in comparison to the charges for mobile communications services at domestic level on roaming customers for any regulated roaming call made or received, for any regulated roaming SMS message sent, for any roaming MMS message sent or for any regulated data roaming services used- or any general charge to enable the terminal equipment or service to be used abroad.
2013/12/20
Committee: JURI
Amendment 76 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex 2
MINIMUM PARAMETERS OF EUROPEAN ASQ CONNECTIVITY PRODUCTS Network elements and related information - A description of the connectivity product to be provided over a fixed network, including technical characteristics and adoption of any relevant standards. Network functionalities: – connectivity agreement ensuring end-to- end Quality of Service, based on common specified parameters that enable the provision of at least the following classes of services: – voice and video calls; – broadcast of audio-visual content; and – data critical applications.deleted
2013/12/20
Committee: JURI