Diritto ed Economia dell'ImpresaISSN 2499-3158
G. Giappichelli Editore

05/10/2021 - Internet: “zero rate” option rejected

argomento: News del mese - Diritto Internazionale e Comunitario

Articoli Correlati: Internet - zero rate tariff - contrary to UE legislation

On 2 September 2021, the Cgue, in the judgment of cases C-854/19, C-5/20 and C-34/20 (Vodafone and Telekom Deutschland) on cases submitted to them by German judges concerning disputes with opposing parties, by on the one hand, Vodafone and Telekom Deutschland and, on the other hand, the Federal Network Agency and a German association for consumer protection, rejected the so-called “zero tariff” options as incompatible with E.U. law - those that allow you to download data from partner sites without affecting the consumption of the tariff plan - considering them to be contrary to the regulation on access to an open Internet, highlighting that a “zero tariff” option makes a distinction within the traffic Internet, by not deducting traffic to partner applications from the basic tariff plan and, therefore, such a commercial practice does not satisfy the general obligation of fair treatment of traffic, without discrimination or interference, as envisaged by the Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 on access to an open Internet, adding that also limitations on bandwidth, connection sharing or roaming use, resulting from the activation of such an option, are also incompatible with EU law.