Dutch telecoms duo KPN and Vodafone NL have received fines of EUR250,000 (USD280,468) and EUR200,000, respectively, from watchdog Autoriteit Consument & Markt (ACM) for violations relating to net neutrality. According to the regulator, KPN blocked some services, including voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) access via its Wi-Fi hotspots, while Vodafone’s offence relates to the preferred streaming of premium TV channel HBO.
Amendments to the Dutch Telecommunications Act (DTA) came into force in January 2013, introducing provisions on net neutrality, which aim to ‘safeguard the non-discriminatory treatment of access to internet services and applications.’ This week Slovenia – one of the few countries alongside the Netherlands to implement net neutrality laws – issued warnings to mobile operators to cease exempting certain services from mobile data charges so that the bandwidth used does not count towards a subscriber’s mobile data allowance, a process referred to as ‘zero rating’.