Communications Regulatory Authority

one) access networks owned by the dominant operators. The European Authorities,
believing that the duplication of the access networks is not possible in the short and
medium term, have thus identified unbundled access to the local network of the
incumbent operators as the most suitable instrument for leading the sector toward a
more mature type of competition.
The last topic that is generating a lively discussion, in the context of the
broadband network services, concerns the neutrality of the network, i.e. the principle
according to which the telecommunications operators must treat all the Internet packet
data carried on their networks in the same way, without any kind of discrimination. This
is a principle, not codified in any legislative texts, that has characterized the Internet
since its birth.
Among the factors that have fuelled the debate over net neutrality are, on the one
hand, the change in the offering of the Internet services by independent companies and,
on the other, the evolution of the networks of the integrated operators toward new
generation infrastructure that makes it possible to control voice and data traffic more
efficiently than in the past. As for the first aspect, several Internet service companies
offer, on the telecommunication carrier networks, Internet Protocol video and voice
services that are in competition with those offered by the fixed operators themselves.
Worthy of mention, by way of example, is the launching of Google Video, a service that
makes it possible both to view streaming content and to download for-pay content onto
one’s computer: the offering includes several very well-known television serials (CBS
itself has stated its intention to make available on Google Video both its entire
catalogue of television shows, and the NBA games, just twenty-four hours after they are
played).
Among the main supporters of the principle of net neutrality are the
infrastructureless Internet operators (such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Yahoo, and
eBay). Another stance, taken by the integrated telecommunications operators, states
instead that it is necessary to create a system in which the providers of services/content
that require significant bandwidth consumption (such as that needed to access Internet
Protocol TV) pay supplementary fees to obtain guaranteed quality levels for the service.
This way, according to the supporters of this viewpoint, it would be possible to avoid an
indiscriminate use of broadband, in favour of a more efficient service guaranteed to
users (in terms of higher content download speeds); the proceeds deriving from these
fees would be used by the telecommunications operators to invest in the upgrading of
their networks. The network would thus been segmented into two levels: a first part,
characterized by a high quality of the service, to be used for services that require
considerable bandwidth, and a second part, characterized by a “best effort” approach,
for the remaining traffic.
Faced with the increase in the applications and services made available by these
companies, the telecommunications carriers have proposed a pay-for service that,
according to this set-up, would allegedly guarantee a better quality of the services
offered to the end consumers. The proposal has, however, triggered a negative reaction,
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