TELECOMMUNICATIONS : TELECOM OPERATORS PREDICT TWO-TIER INTERNET.

Telecom operators were shouting fire ahead of the vote by the European Parliament's Committee on Industry (ITRE) on the telecoms package, on 24 February. The amendments that were announced on net neutrality threaten to create two internet networks, the operators say.

It is a position that managers from large operators, ranging from Deutsche Telekom to Orange to Telefonica, defended in full force during a meeting with Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes, on 24 February in Barcelona at the the Mobile World Congress. They had already sounded the alarm in a letter addressed to EP rapporteur Pilar del Castillo (EPP, Spain) and the shadow rapporteurs a week earlier.

At issue are the definitions of 'specialised services' and 'reasonable management' of traffic. The ITRE committee had to decide between two amendments marking out 'specialised services', such as...