Zero rating is where a data cap is set up to exclude the possibility of viable full-on video or music streaming (if there’s no cap or data volume charging there’s no advantage to zero rating). Thus enabled, the network operator arranges zero rated content paid for (usually) by the upstream content provider.

The brilliance of this little trick is that the zero rating offer can be presented to the user as ‘free data’.In reality it’s just the lifting of a needless surcharge (Oh dear, the ways we fool ourselves if we think there’s a bargain going). It’s generally agreed that there’s seldom any technical need for capping, especially on a fixed broadband service.

The report, from Vienna-based Epicenter, sets out to review the first two years of EU net neutrality enforcement. Under the current set-up the EU has offered Net Neutrality guidelines and objectives and it’s up to the NRAs (national regulatory authorities) to further define and enforce the rules.

Epicenter says it’s undertaken a complete survey of differential pricing practices (DPP) in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the results are not good. It reports that during the first two and a half years of the European net neutrality rules being in force, zero rating and other forms of DPP have spread into all but two EU countries.

The problem is that many national regulators are simply swerving around the EU regulation by failing to assess and intervene where violations are taking place. This is doubly galling because the EU grants the NRAs the ability to fine operators up to 10 per cent of their revenues if found at fault, but many are simply ignoring the requirement and are neither investigating or imposing any penalties.