The guidelines remain largely unchanged compared to the 2016 ones, with some clarifications added relating to 5G and specialised services.
A review with minor changes: In 2016, the Body of European Regulators (BEREC) set out guidelines to help national regulators implement the EU’s Open Internet Access Regulation. On 17 June 2020, BEREC updated the guidelines, in line with its commitment of doing so during 2020. During the consultation prior to updating the guidelines, BEREC found that stakeholders continue to have opposing views on topics such as zero-rating and on the scope of specialised services. However, the feedback it received did not justify any major changes to the guidelines, other than some clarifications.
All-clear for networks slicing in 5G: One of the most common concerns related to the possible conflict between net neutrality rules and future evolutions of 5G networks, which will enable the practice of network slicing. BEREC clarified that such functionality can be used to implement ‘specialised services’ in the 5G network, which are delivered in parallel with the internet access services. Typical examples of this will be various real-time services, and the criterion to adopt is that these services should have quality requirements that cannot be offered over the internet. 5G networks will be able to offer specialised services using dedicated slices in the shared network, as well as one or more separate slices for internet access.
More openness on zero-rating: Another contentious point during the consultation process was the way in which NRAs evaluate zero-rating practices. BEREC added the concept of ‘open zero-rating programme’ to the guidelines, to clarify that NRAs may consider the extent to which a programme is open to all content and application providers (CAPs) of a particular category and whether CAPs may join the programme in a transparent, non-discriminatory, fair and reasonable way. In response to a stakeholder, BEREC also noted that NRAs should continue to assess the potential effects of commercial practices on end users' choices.
