30 June, 2015

ETNO statement on the Telecom Single Market agreement

After intense work, the EU institutions have announced today that they have reached an agreement on the Telecoms Single Market regulation.

ETNO has consistently supported EU-level rules, as opposed to a patchwork of national approaches to telecom regulation. As legislators work on further defining the details of the rules agreed today, we believe it is paramount to aim at the following main objectives:

  • Ensure the coherence of today’s regulation with the long-term objective of enhancing investment and allowing freedom to innovate;
  • Ensure that the final wording of the Open Internet rules – as well as their implementation by BEREC guidance –  does not hamper user experience and network quality, and does not limit the development of innovative business models. Without proper balance and implementation, we incur the risk of harming innovation;
  • Finalise and implement roaming rules that do not distort national markets and allow for cost-recovery for all market players.

ETNO Chairman Steven Tas has commented as follows: “We share the view that an ambitious reform of the electronic communication rules is needed to boost Europe’s digital economy and job creation potential. As an agreement on the TSM has now been reached thanks to the intense work of the co-legislators, the next urgent step is to focus on regulatory reform. We share the pressing need to swiftly address today’s major challenge: ensuring superfast broadband deployment through a sustained level of network investment”.

In recent statements, ETNO has called for swift actions following up to the Digital Single Market Strategy. These include fast-track regulatory measures to facilitate network investment, addressing the regulatory asymmetries among players offering similar services and promoting urgent spectrum reform. The EU should encourage the roll-out of modern communication infrastructures by establishing a simplified, pro-investment regulatory framework that supports the significant investments planned by the industry. More information is available here.​

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