Europe: Net neutrality alive and well? Not really

Flash Networks released its annual LTE study conducted at the LTE World Summit event regarding operator and subscriber views on the topic of net neutrality.

Not surprisingly 69% of operators thought there should be a so-called “fast lane” for Internet traffic geared towards premium content providers willing to spend extra for that speed. What was more surprising is that 74% of subscriber respondents also felt this was an important offering. What this implies is that we shouldn’t ignore the fact that users want the best customer experience, and would maybe even pay for it if it meant they were always ensured the best experience via their mobile data network.
The report also looked at who’s to blame when things go wrong. A vast majority (84%) of subscribers blame their operator when video stalls and buffers resulting in a poor user experience. Only 63% of operators felt the same way. The industry shouldn’t under estimate the end users’ feelings on this topic. If the user believes this is the operator’s role and the operator isn’t allowed the opportunity to resolve this issue with a win/win for everyone involved, it can result in churn as other options become available to the end user for their service. The good news is that 80% of operators already have plans to optimize their video and data based on network conditions at the time of use.
End users getting “super fast” (20 megabit per second download throughput) speeds dipped from 48% of respondents last year to just 31% this year, a signal that work needs to be done on the ability for networks to provide high-speed data services.
The last interesting note is what subscribers found most important. Everyone talks about coverage, coverage, coverage, which is the mobile industry’s version of location, location, location. Surprisingly this is not the single most important factor when deciding to choose a provider. Speed topped the charts, with 58% of respondents wanting the fastest downloads. And not surprisingly, almost 100% of users are hoping for LTE deployment as soon as possible.
So the argument about net neutrality continues. If everyone is treated the same on the operators’ networks, there would likely be a surprising shift in the outcome of these types of questions on customer experience. This experience is key to the future success of over-the-top content providers and operators alike. Is it time to end this argument?
For more information you can visit www.flashnetworks.com.