Dutch Parliament Passes Legislation on Phone Internet Access
The Dutch parliament passed legislation to prevent phone companies such as Royal KPN NV from charging clients extra for using Internet applications such as Skype and from limiting access to websites on mobile handsets.
The “net neutrality” measure would allow companies to charge for the amount or speed of data traffic and prohibits the blocking of Internet sites that drive revenue to other businesses. Operators would also be prevented from charging more for the use of applications such as Skype that allow voice calls over the Internet and messaging applications such as WhatsApp.
Telecommunications operators’ revenue is under pressure as clients make voice calls via the Internet and use Internet applications to chat. The phone companies are looking for ways to cope with increasing data traffic on networks.
KPN, the largest Dutch phone company, has said it doesn’t plan to charge customers for the use of applications such as WhatsApp, though it did want to charge for voice calls via the Internet. The legislation must be passed by the Senate before becoming law.
To contact the reporter on this story: Maaike Noordhuis in Amsterdam at mnoordhuis@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kenneth Wong at kwong11@bloomberg.net
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