Ofcom yesterday revised its guidance on how net neutrality rules should apply in the United Kingdom.

Pointing out it is responsible for monitoring and ensuring compliance with the net neutrality rules and providing guidance on how broadband and mobile providers should follow them, the regulator said the rules themselves are set out in legislation, and any changes to the law would be a matter for Government and Parliament.

The principle of net neutrality is that internet users – not their broadband or mobile provider – have control over what they do online. Net neutrality has played a critical role in allowing people to access the content and services they want, and content and app owners to reach customers online, Ofcom said in a statement yesterday.

Since the current rules were put in place in 2016, there have been significant developments in the online world, including a surge in demand for capacity, the emergence of several large content providers such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, and evolving technology including the rollout of 5G. So, Ofcom has carried out a review to ensure net neutrality continues to serve everyone’s interests, it said.

“While net neutrality remains important to support consumer choice, we have provided more clarity in our guidance so that broadband and mobile providers can offer premium quality retail broadband or mobile packages; develop new ‘specialised services’; use ‘traffic management’ measures; and offer ‘zero-rating’ packages in most circumstances,” the UK communications regulator said.

It added that it has also produced guidance to ensure broadband and mobile providers can protect their customers and deliver public benefits by prioritising and zero-rating access to emergency services, offering parental controls, and preventing access to scams and other harmful content.

“We set out our views on the possibility of allowing broadband and mobile providers to charge content providers for carrying their traffic. We have not seen sufficient evidence that this is needed, although this would require a change to the rules and therefore be a matter for Government and Parliament,” Ofcom added