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* Lawmakers against discriminating between Internet contentproviders
* European Parliament expected to agree with proposal atApril session
* EU member nations' approvals still needed
By Foo Yun Chee and Leila Abboud
BRUSSELS, Feb 24 (Reuters) - EU lawmakers postponed aplanned vote on Monday on scrapping mobile phone roaming chargesby 2015 and preventing telecoms network operators from chargingcompanies such as Google and Amazon to providefaster web services.
Officials from the European Parliament said the committeevote, one step in a series which could lead to changes in EUrules, was delayed for procedural reasons. A new date will beset in the coming days.
The proposals from the European Parliament's industrycommittee go far beyond European Telecoms Commissioner NeelieKroes's plans to overhaul the EU telecoms industry, whichinclude ending roaming fees by 2016.
If implemented, they could hit Europe's telecoms providerswhich are struggling to lift their revenues, down for the fifthconsecutive year.
"Roaming providers shall not levy any surcharge (from Dec.15, 2015) in comparison to the charges for mobile communicationsservices at domestic level on roaming customers in any memberstates for any regulated roaming call made or received," thecommittee said in a proposal document seen by Reuters.
It said roaming charges for sending text messages and forusing any regulated data roaming services should also be phasedout by the same deadline.
The committee could side with proponents of net neutrality,concerned that telecoms companies might block or slow access tocontent on the Internet or charge content providers more fordelivering their services at faster speeds.
"Where such agreements are concluded with the provider ofinternet access, that provider should ensure that the enhancedquality service does not cause material detriment to the generalquality of Internet access," the document said.
Telecoms operators, some of whom might already have suchdeals, said industry sources, are opposed to the proposed rule.
"The principle that all types of Internet traffic have to betreated equally is at odds with the way in which the Internetworks today, as different types of traffic have differentrequirements and need to be managed efficiently," LuigiGambardella, head of the European Telecommunications NetworkOperators' Association (ETNO), said.
ETNO, whose members include Orange, Telecom Italia, Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica but not Vodafone, conveyed its criticism jointly withthe GSMA, the worldwide mobile operators' lobbying group, toKroes and the committee.
For the proposals to become law, they would need theblessing of the full parliament, once they are approved in acommittee vote, and of the EU's 28 governments.
