Ronnie Preiskel
Ronnie Preiskel, Managing Partner, Preiskel & Co LLP
Ronnie is a co-founder of the telecoms and technology specialist law firm, Preiskel & Co LLP. He has over 20 years' experience working in the telecoms, media and technology sectors in a wide variety of roles. Ronnie is ranked in various guides such as Chambers & Partners and Legal 500.
Ronnie has the benefit of having worked for many years within the industry including for British Telecommunications PLC, a Vodafone JV and a mobile services start-up.
In addition to his work in the TMT sector, Ronnie also advises a number of retail and leisure businesses on fundraising, franchising and commercial matters.
Practice Area
Panel
- Contributing Author
Qualified Year
- 1995
Membership
- Admitted to practice in England and Wales
Education
- MA in Economics and Law, Cambridge University
- MBA, INSEAD
3 Contributions by Ronnie Preiskel
PRACTICE NOTES
EU open internet and net neutrality: Regulation 2015/2120, EECC context, BEREC guidelines, CJEU zero‑rating rulings, traffic management, transparency and enforcement
Net neutrality
This Practice Note sets out how the concept that internet use should be free from any kind of discrimination—often called ‘net neutrality’—has been embedded in EU law and implemented through legislation. It covers the relevant provisions of Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 (widely referred to as Roaming IV, or the Open Internet Regulation) that give effect to net neutrality. It also looks at the way those rules apply to familiar practices such as blocking, throttling, and the offering of zero-rating/zero-tariff plans and contracts. The phrase ‘net neutrality’ denotes a principle under which use of the internet is kept free of discrimination, thereby ensuring equal opportunities of access to any user. Coined in 2003 by Tim Wu, a media law academic at Columbia University, the term sits within a wider set of principles concerned with freedom to use the internet. It forms part of the broader notion of the ‘open internet’, the view that the internet’s full resources, and the tools needed to operate on it, should be readily available and easily accessible to all individuals, companies and organisations...
EU Law
PRACTICE NOTES
Ofcom Regulation of Market Power in UK Telecommunications: SMP Framework, Market Reviews (PIMR, BCMR, WFTMR, WVMR, Hull Area), Appeals, and the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024
Telecommunications in the UK is governed by both sector‑specific regulation and the general framework of competition law. This Practice Note explains how Ofcom, the UK’s national regulator, undertakes market reviews of the telecoms sector, with a particular emphasis on the Physical Infrastructure and Business Connectivity Markets, and the Wholesale Fixed Telecoms Market Review.
Ofcom’s powers
Ofcom has powers under the Communications Act 2003 (CA 2003) to assess defined markets, judge whether competition is effective, and impose suitable remedies where competition issues are found. Several of these powers originated in European directives transposed into UK law. The most recent is Directive (EU) 2018/1972, which establishes the European Electronic Communications Code (Recast), implemented in December 2020. Those powers continue to apply because the implementing measures are EU‑derived domestic legislation and now sit within assimilated law. For further detail on the European Electronic Communications Code, see the Practice Note on the European Electronic Communications Code. ‘Assimilated law’ is the term for retained EU law (REUL) that remains in effect after the end of 2023. The re‑categorisation of REUL (and related terms) to...
TMT
PRACTICE NOTES
UK net neutrality and open internet access: assimilated Regulation (EU) 2015/2120, Ofcom powers and 2023 statement, zero‑rating guidance, traffic management, specialised services, transparency and enforcement
Net neutrality
‘Net neutrality’ denotes the idea that the internet should operate without discrimination, ensuring every user enjoys the same opportunity to reach any online resource. Coined in 2003 by Tim Wu, a Columbia University media law scholar, the label sits within a wider set of principles upholding freedom in how the internet is used. Framed as a flexible answer to the technology sector’s evolving needs, it places decision-making over what people encounter online with the individual rather than the broadband company that provides their connection.
In practice, this amounts to an open internet, where internet service providers (ISPs) deliver connections and treat all content and services even-handedly, with service quality keeping pace with technological progress. Viewed through a legal lens, net neutrality is commonly expressed as a ban on limits and/or discriminatory measures that hinder people’s access to online material. The doctrine emerged from European legislation, largely as a counter to certain traffic-management tactics used by ISPs that favoured or penalised specific data flows...
TMT
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