(Bloomberg) -- UK regulator Ofcom proposed changes to net neutrality rules carried over from the European Union to give telecommunications and internet providers more flexibility.

Internet service providers should be allowed to offer a broader range of premium packages on a wider variety of parameters such as latency, and could include discounted tariffs during off-peak hours, according to proposals from the watchdog published Friday.

“The net neutrality rules constrain the activities of broadband providers, and could be restricting their ability to develop new services and manage their networks,” Ofcom said in the report. 

Net neutrality is shorthand for rules that intend to ensure traffic carried over telecom networks is treated equally, without favoring certain services or content. Debates over such regulations often prove controversial due to tensions over what constitutes an open and free internet and fears consumers could suffer if it becomes harder to compare prices.

The report proposed that telecom providers be allowed to not charge a customer’s overall allowance for certain services, like public health advice.  

UK internet service provider TalkTalk Telecom Group Ltd welcomed the guidance. 

“We think the rules can and should support innovation and network efficiency,” a spokeswoman said. “In addition, content providers should in some cases be able to support network capacity growth while also ensuring consumers continue to have unrestricted access to content.”

On a wider debate over getting Big Tech to pay phone companies for carrying traffic, Ofcom said it hadn’t “yet seen sufficient evidence that this is needed and believe there is sufficient flexibility provided for internet service providers in our other proposals.”

Ofcom is soliciting responses to the proposals until Jan. 13 and plans revised guidance in the second half of 2023. It added that changes in the rules would ultimately be a matter for the government. 

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