ecta CEO meeting with Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager
On 11 October the captains of the Telecoms Industry Jacques Bonifay from Transatel; Neven DILKOV from Neterra; Keri Gilder from Colt Technology Services; Alex Goldblum from Eurofiber; Michael Martin from Drillisch AG |1&1 Telecommunication SE; Meinrad ("Meini") Spenger from Grupo MASMOVIL; Thomas Reynaud, Maxime Lombardini and Jean Marc Harion from Free Groupe iliad, PLAY; Richard Viel and Edward from Bouygues Bouygues Telecom and ecta Director General Luc Hindryckx met with Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager to discuss the crucial role of competitive alternative operators to achieve the Digital Decade Objectives.
Amongst others, the CEOs exchanged views on investments in fiber and 5G roll; the necessity to publicly consult the stakeholders on the draft successor access recommendation; the necessity to maintain a cost-oriented price control on access wholesale products and stable copper prices for the transition to fibre and much more.
A warm thank you to Ms Margrethe Vestager for the fruitful discussion.
You can check the LinkedIn publication here for more information.
ecta on BEREC Workshop on national broadband coverage indicators
ecta Director General Luc Hindryckx participated on 12 October in the BEREC Workshop on BEREC Report to enable comparable national broadband coverage indicators throughout Europe.
The Director General called for the reduction of the administrative burden and cost for operators. He also called for a clarification, radiography and cartography of the end to end process in the BEREC report.
More information about the event can be found here.
Roaming Regulation
The ITRE Committee voted in favour of extending the "Roam like at home" scheme which expires on 30 June 2022 for another 10 years until 2032. According to the MEP's adopted text:
- The consumers will bear no additional costs when they are using their mobile phones while travelling in the EU.
- The consumers will enjoy the same quality.
- Commercial practices which reduce the quality of services of regulated retail roaming services must be prohibited.
- The access to emergency services must be without any additional charges.
MEPs also propose ending surcharges for intra-EU calls which are currently capped at 19 cents per minute.
The press release can be found here.
Next steps:
18-21 October plenary session - the mandate will be announced.
26 October - the first trilogue will take place.
3rd European 5G Observatory Stakeholder Workshop
The European 5G Observatory will host the 3rd European 5G Observatory Stakeholder Workshop. The workshop is open for all stakeholders, including telecom operators and suppliers. ecta Director General Luc Hindryckx will participate in the workshop. The discussion will be in two sessions. Session I will be dedicated to the achievements of 5G until now and Session II will focus on 5G in the Digital Decade.
More information about the event can be found here.
More information about the 5G observatory can be found here.
Event date:
18 November 2021.
Energy prices: Commission launched a toolbox of measures
On 13 October the European Commission adopted a Communication on Energy Prices. The Communication includes a "toolbox" to tackle the exceptional rise in the global energy prices. The Commission presented immediate measures to protect consumers and businesses:
- Emergency income support and avoiding disconnections from the grid.
- Authorize temporary deferrals of bill payment.
- Put in place safeguards to avoid disconnections from the grid.
- Provide aid to companies or industries, in line with EU state aid rules.
- Facilitate a wider access to renewable power purchase agreements and support them via flanking measures, etc.
The medium term measures for a decarbonized and resilient energy system include investments on renewables, developing energy storage capacity, empowering the consumers to choose and change suppliers.
More information can be found here.
Next steps:
Presenting the Communication to the Members of the European Parliament and the Energy Ministers.
Cybersecurity
The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) published a methodology for a Sectoral Cybersecurity Assessment. The methodology addresses the objectives of the context of ICT security for sectoral multi-stakeholder systems and drafting sectoral cybersecurity certification schemes.
The document can be downloaded from here.
Digital Education Action Plan
The European Commission launched an expert group on tackling disinformation and promoting digital literacy through education and training. The expert group will assist the preparation of practical guidelines for teachers and educators in order to promote the objectives of the Digital Education Plan.
More information can be found here.
EU institutional life
This week the MEPs were engaged with committee meetings.
The MEPs calendar can be found here.
Next week:
18-21 October - European Plenary session.