Telekom Slovenije and Si.mobil, the two largest operators in Slovenia, were found guilty by AKOS, the national telecoms regulator, of violating net neutrality principles enshrined in the country’s Electronic Communications Act.

In the way they ‘zero-rated’ some web traffic – which included music streaming service Deezer in the case of Telekom Slovenije, and cloud storage service Hanger Mapa in the case of Si.mobil – AKOS deemed the two mobile operators guilty of contravening net neutrality, reckoning they discriminated against other traffic to give their own zero-rated services priority.

The two mobile operators must, within 60 days after receipt of the AKOS ruling, stop treating internet traffic in different ways.

There has been some debate in Slovenia about whether or not zero rating was illegal as far as the Electronic Communications Act was concerned. With this debate seemingly settled in the eyes of the regulator, there are clear implications for other operators thinking about zero-rating services.

Slovenia is only one of a few countries that has net neutrality written into law.