Last checked at 
(Adds reactions from Deutsche Telekom, BNetzA and VZBV)
By Douglas Busvine
BERLIN, Sept 2 (Reuters) - All-you-can-watch video products
offered by Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom in
Germany violated regional rules on roaming and net neutrality,
the European Union's highest court ruled on Thursday.
The landmark ruling targeted popular mobile products such as
Deutsche Telekom's StreamOn deal, which offered unlimited data
for watching video while customers were in Germany but slowed
transmission speeds when they went abroad.
Germany's BNetzA network regulator ordered https://www.reuters.com/article/us-deutsche-telekom-regulator-idUKKBN1E91VM
Deutsche Telekom in 2018 to offer such products on the same
terms throughout the EU, triggering a court battle. Germany's
VZBV consumer association objected to a copycat product launched
by Vodafone.
Zero-tariff options "are contrary to the regulation on open
internet access," the European Court of Justice said in a
two-page ruling made after two German courts hearing the cases
against Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom https://www.reuters.com/article/deutsche-telekom-regulator-idCNL8N24G2WX
sought its opinion.
"It follows that limitations on bandwidth, tethering or on
use when roaming ... are also incompatible with EU law."
In response, Deutsche Telekom said it had already adjusted
StreamOn to remove throttling, meaning no changes were needed as
a result of the European court ruling. The German regulator
said, however, that such products could not stand even in their
amended form.
EU rules require mobile operators to allow customers to
"roam like at home" and to pay the same tariffs regardless of
where they are located. Net neutrality bars the throttling of
data speeds depending on location.
Operators counter that such rules, if applied across the EU,
would encourage people from outside Germany to sign up as
customers there to take advantage of unlimited video products,
forcing up costs and straining networks.
Deutsche Telekom said that StreamOn no longer featured data
throttling. "In this respect, StreamOn will not change," it said
in a statement.
The BNetzA said, however, that decisions by the German
courts went beyond its own initial order.
"It is therefore to be expected that the products amended in
2019 based on the BNetzA directive cannot be maintained in their
current form," it said.
VZBV, which had challenged the Vodafone Pass product, said
the ruling "sets an example for net neutrality" and was a
"victory" for consumer protection.
"In their current form, zero-rating products like the
Vodafone Pass have nothing to do with free internet for all
consumers," it said.
Vodafone said it would review the ruling and adjust its
products accordingly. "In the interest of customers, Vodafone
carefully designs its tariffs in accordance with the EU
net-neutrality and roaming regulation," it said in a statement.
(Additional reporting by Nadine Schimroszik; Editing by Riham
Alkousaa, Mike Harrison and Steve Orlofsky)
