A version of this article originally appeared on Fool.com
WASHINGTON, DC — Tough new rules enforcing net neutrality could make it easier for Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX.US) to cost-effectively compete for business in the European Union, Fool contributor Tim Beyers says.
Specifically, EU lawmakers enacted new policies that not only guarantee equal access for all netizens but also reduced mobile phone roaming charges throughout the 28-member union. A final vote is due in May, but most signs suggest that regulators will stick with the plan as it was passed in the European Parliament last week.
Passive income stocks: our picks
Do you like the idea of dividend income?
The prospect of investing in a company just once, then sitting back and watching as it potentially pays a dividend out over and over?
If you’re excited by the thought of regular passive income payments, as well as the potential for significant growth on your initial investment…
Then we think you’ll want to see this report inside Motley Fool Share Advisor — ‘5 Essential Stocks For Passive Income Seekers’.
What’s more, today we’re giving away one of these stock picks, absolutely free!
For Netflix, Tim says the new rules guarantee the company’s streams will travel across the continent unimpeded. Direct-access deals similar to what Netflix has with Comcast in the US shouldn’t be necessary in the EU.
Yet it’s the timing of the changes that matter more than anything else. Netflix has long had designs on expanding its European operations beyond the UK, Scandinavia and the Netherlands. EU countries, meanwhile, want more of what the streaming king has. Take House of Cards, which has proved to be a particularly attractive target of illegal streamers in Poland, France, Greece and Spain, among others, according to data compiled by Variety.
Tough, carefully crafted net neutrality regulations should allow Netflix to turn those digital miscreants into customers, pleasing investors in the process.