A new telecoms framework regulating the digital market was recently unveiled by the European Commission. This framework, consisting of initiatives and legislative proposals, is aimed to enhance digital connectivity across the EU, strengthen the rights of consumers and promote competition and user choice.
The Commission is proposing the review of the current regulatory framework by integrating four different European directives into one single new legislative instrument, dubbed the European Electronic Communications Code. These proposals are driven by connectivity targets that the European Commission set to achieve between now and 2025.
Among these measures, the Commission is proposing that every household in the EU, whether in the countryside or in the city, should have access to connectivity with download speeds of at least 100 megabytes per second and an increased download speed for main socio-economic drivers such as providers of public services and educational establishments. In addition to better connectivity, the new rules facilitate accessibility by making internet affordable. Member states are required to ensure that basic broadband access is available to all at affordable prices. In the case of low-income households or individuals with special needs, special tariff options can be made applicable.
In a bid to ensure connectivity to all Europeans across the board, the Commission is proposing deploying free public Wi-Fi in public spaces and public buildings. This measure will be incentivised through EU grants that will assist financially public entities to install local wireless access points. The so-called WiFi4EU aims at helping European communities offer free access points to all.
The proposed code strengthens consumer rights. Consumer contracts are to be made clearer. The maximum duration of two years for telecoms service contracts will be retained irrespective of whether the consumer purchases a bundle, which links a telecom service with other services such as TV content. Inroads to this principle exist where longer agreements with end-users are allowed in order to support network roll-out in those cases of remote households for instance. Member states are, however, allowed to adopt or maintain a shorter maximum initial commitment period.
The proposed framework leaves untouched the directive on privacy and electronic communications that is currently the subject of a separate review process. One of the main changes that the Commission is considering under this review are chat applications, such as WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook Messenger and iMessage. These web-based chat systems are operated by over-the-top (OTT) providers who are usually unregulated by the e-Privacy Directive and users of these apps are relatively left uncontrolled. The Commission is weighing up this situation and analysing whether to extend the same rules of telecom operators to OTT providers, in particular those relating to security and confidentiality.
Telecoms providers currently have several obligations governing how they protect, store and access data on customers under the e-Privacy Directive. This could threaten the end-to-end encryption offered on these services because telecoms operators cannot currently offer this protection as they are required to make communication data available if requested by law enforcement. The Commission’s proposals, intended to overhaul the current e-Privacy Directive, are to be launched in the coming months.
Under the new European Electronic Communications Code, the Commission proposes to extend regulation to these OTT providers by imposing new legal obligations on such providers. OTT providers that use numbers to allow end users to reach each other are to become subject to rules applicable to traditional telecom operators, such as the obligation to provide contractual information to customers and emergency call rules.
On the other hand, OTT services that do not make use of numbers will be regulated to a limit to the extent that public policy interests require. Their servers and networks must be secure and providers’ networks must install appropriate measures to manage security risks. Disabled users will have equivalent access to such services and users can reach the emergency number with additional costs to the end-user.
An action plan to deploy 5G connectivity across the EU was also proposed by the EU Commission as part of its digital market review. This fifth generation of telecommunications is intended to converge wired and wireless communications by using the same infrastructure. The target date for the introduction of initial high capacity networks is 2018.
jgrech@demarcoassociates.com
Josette Grech is adviser on EU law at Guido de Marco & Associates.