Net Neutrality: Zero Lives Left For Zero-Rating?

On April 28, 2022, the German telecoms regulator Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA) banned the zero-rating programs of two of the country's largest cellular providers. A statement released by BNetzA called out Deutsche Telekom's "StreamOn" and Vodafone's "Vodafone Pass" for violating the net neutrality principles enshrined in European Union law. These principles, a decades-old global issue of contention, establish that internet service providers ought to treat all internet traffic the same, irrespective of origin and target.

A Logical Consequence of CJEU Case Law

Deutsche Telekom's and Vodafone's programs both implemented a so-called "zero-rating" regime. These regimes were applied to mobile phone plans featuring a capped high-speed data volume. In this context, customers subscribing to the zero-rating programs were able to use certain predefined online services (e.g., video or music streaming services) without consuming any of their data volume.