Key U.K. ISPs signed a voluntary code to keep the...

it said. The code (http://xrl.us/bnh588) reflects that some ISPs have considered offering managed services that would allow a specific piece of content, service or application to be delivered without risk of degradation from network congestion, but that such services “are still at a very early stage and it is difficult to predict how widely they will be offered or used.” Their emergence, however, raises questions about their impact on best-efforts Internet access and whether they could lead to less-than-welcome unintended consequences, the document says. Concern about those issues has led to increased focus on ISP traffic management policies, in particular: (1) The need to give consumers clear information about traffic management practices that could be relevant to the service choices they make. (2) Users’ continued ability to access legal content, apps and services through ISP products. (3) The risk that negative discrimination by ISPs could hurt content, application and services providers. (4) The potential effect of a new managed services market on “best efforts” Internet access and the ability of the Internet to remain an open platform for innovation. The Office of Communications, in a November statement on the issues, acknowledged that traffic management can play a positive role in the Internet’s success, but that certain practices could lead to harmful consequences such as preventing users from accessing what they choose to see online, the code says. Ofcom also stressed the need to use best efforts, but said its preferred approach would be to try to ensure that the benefits of those efforts and managed service coexist, the code says. Ofcom declined to regulate, but said it would monitor ISPs’ progress in giving consumers transparent information; the ongoing quality of best-efforts access; and the prevalence and nature of products that block services, in order to assess if rules are needed, the code says. Signers believe Ofcom is “broadly correct,” but that some steps can be taken at this early stage to ensure that innovation leads to positive market outcomes and coexistence of managed services with best-efforts access, it says. Signers agreed to support the concept of an open Internet and the general principle that legal content, applications and services shouldn’t be blocked. In cases where certain classes of legal content, services and apps are unavailable on a product, they agreed not to use the term “Internet access” to describe or market the products, and to ensure they communicate any restrictions effectively to consumers. They also committed to supporting the provision of clear and transparent traffic management policies. Ofcom will monitor compliance with the commitments, and the code includes a process for raising concerns about possible negative discrimination. Signers are BE Broadband, British Telecom, BSkyB, KCOM, giffgaff, O2, Plusnet, TalkTalk, Tesco Mobile and Three. The Internet Telephony Services Providers Association welcomed the action but said it’s “unfortunate” that not all communications providers signed up. ITSPA members have long been concerned about the traffic management and transparency practices of some providers, particularly mobile operators, said Chair Eli Katz. He cheered the companies for allowing VoIP services on their networks and not adding charges. The code appears to build on Ofcom’s “pragmatic approach to net neutrality,” said Ovum analyst Matthew Howett. ISPs and over-the-top players generally recognize that managed services are needed to build and maintain a sustainable Internet model, he said. It’s an area of constant evolution and it’s “reassuring” that self-regulation is being explored, rather than a “heavy-handed and possibly premature intervention from the regulator,” he said. Howett urged the Broadband Stakeholder Group to clarify what “full Internet access” means.