UK communications minister Ed Vaizey has called on ISPs to be open, transparent and favourable to investment to benefit Britain’s economy and society.
Outlining the government’s stance on net neutrality, Vaizey told the FT World Telecoms Conference this…
UK communications minister Ed Vaizey has called on ISPs to be open, transparent and favourable to investment to benefit Britain’s economy and society.
Outlining the government’s stance on net neutrality, Vaizey told the FT World Telecoms Conference this morning that a light touch to internet regulation is crucial for ongoing innovation.
“A lightly regulated internet is good for business, good for the economy, and good for people,” he said.
“But it is also right the government puts in place the right infrastructure to support it and has a view on how it should be governed.”
Vaizey pointed to the government’s commitment to invest £830m in superfast broadband over the next seven years.
He also highlighted multi-billion pound efforts from the private sector, with incumbent BT pledging superfast broadband will be available to two-thirds of the UK by 2015, and local competitor Virgin Media aiming to reach 50% with speeds of up to 100mbps by 2012.
However, Vaizey insisted net neutrality will become an increasingly important issue as ISPs aim to deliver high quality content on the back of this increased investment.
He added that ISPs “should be allowed to manage their networks to ensure a good customer service… The key is that consumers must be informed and aware of what they are buying and of any limitations attached to it.”
The policy could lead the way for ISPs to charge fees for so-called “fast-lane” access, reported the FT.
