The BBC has waded into the current Net Neutrality (principal of treating all internet traffic as equal) debate by announcing its intention to warn any users of its popular iPlayer catch-up TV video streaming service when their broadband ISP is restricting traffic and degrading its quality.

The move follows yesterdays speech by the UK governments Minister for Communications, Ed Vaizey, whom supported proposals by Ofcom that would shun Net Neutrality and allow big broadband ISPs the power to effectively favour some online content over others; depending on who paid them the most money (here).

Apparently the BBC intends to adopt a form of Traffic Light style warnings, which would consist of RED, AMBER and GREEN icons/notifications. No doubt RED would indicate that a high level of Traffic Management was being applied and thus slowing the performance and quality of their iPlayer service.

In addition the BBC's current Director of Future Media and Technology, Erik Huggers, told the FT that it was "highly unlikely" the corporation would pay ISPs to guarantee the quality of its service. We recall that the BBC first warned of its intentions over two years ago.


Some readers will be quick to point out that several ISPs are already notorious for restricting iPlayer traffic (e.g. BT Retail) under their Fair Usage Policies (FUP). However a lack of awareness often allows this issue to go unnoticed, which is something that the BBC hopes to change.

At present it remains unclear whether the BBC's system will have the ability to tell the difference between standard Traffic Management for general load balancing purposes and restrictions that are specifically targeting their content. However both warnings could prove educational and might help consumers to find a better service for their needs.