EU'S SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA

The sanction regarding disinformation

On 2 March the European Union adopted sanctions against Russia by suspending all the  relevant licenses, authorisations and distribution arrangements for the broadcasting activities of Russia Today and Sputnik in or directed at the EU.

The press release can be found here.
On 4 March BEREC emphasized that the Open Internet Regulation in not an obstacle in implementing the EU sanctions to block the two Russian televisions.

More information can be found here.       

Roaming services for Russian telecom providers in EU

In a response to a request from the Ukrainian National Regulatory Authority  NCEC to take actions aimed at blocking Russian roamers and roaming services for Russian telecom providers in the EU, the BEREC chair Ms Annemarie Sipkes informed NCEC Chairman Oleksandr Zhyvotovsky that this request was forwarded to the European Commission to be discussed at a political level.

BEREC announced that it is committed to support the Commission’s response to the request.

More information can be found here.

WORKSHOP ON THE USE OF THE SUB-700 MHZ BAND

The European Commission will host a workshop on the use of the sub-700 MHz band. The event is a part of the study that the European Commission's Directorate-General for Communications Networks commissioned recently to LS Telcom AG and its subcontractor VVA Brussels Sprl. The study will:

• provide an overview of the latest trends and developments that are relevant for the current and future use of the sub-700 MHz band.
• analyse the latest technological developments in the area of DTT and trends with a focus on 5G.
• analyse consumer behaviour evolution, the public service media requirements and international developments related to the use of the sub-700 MHz band.

The registration link will be available soon.

Date of the event: 30 March between 10.00 am CEST and 4.00 pm CEST as a virtual event.

 

6G

The Commissioner for the Internal market Thierry Breton outlined the Europe’s plans for technology and infrastructure investment to foster resilience, and pave the way towards 6G. The vision of the Commission on 6G is that:

• 6G will be the next step-change in performance from Gigabit to Terabit capacities.
• 6G will enable the extended reality "Internet of senses".
• 6G will pave the ground for leading technology companies in the area of microchips for 6G or next-generation cloud technology.
• 6G will be designed to enhance drastically the energy efficiency of connectivity infrastructures to cope with major traffic growth.

In order to achieve the above vision, the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) presented its two strategic pillars: 6G research and innovation and 5G deployment actions funded by European or national funding programmes. The already committed public-private budget of around €2 billion establishes the necessary financial planning certainty to proceed with an ambitious 6G R&I roadmap.

More information can be found here.

CZECH REGULATION OF THE WHOLESALE MARKET

Following the European Commission's veto decision requiring the Czech regulator, CTU, to withdraw its draft decision proposing measures to impose wholesale access by third parties to mobile networks, on 1 March 2022, CTU launched a public consultation on a new draft analysis with specific proposals on temporary measures.

The Czech regulator re-analysed relevant market No.3 and concluded that it is not competitive. Therefore, CTU considers it is necessary to act urgently to protect competition by  introducing temporary measures, in particular to prevent certain competitors from being squeezed out of the retail market.  CTU proposes to designate T-Mobile Czech Republic a.s., O2 Czech Republic a.s., and Vodafone Czech Republic a.s. as undertakings with significant market power on this market.

CTU finds that remedies under national or EU competition law are not sufficient to address this issue.

The press release can be found here.

Note: The public consultation will run until 8 March 2022.

 

ANTITRUST: PUBLIC CONSULTATION

On 1 March the European Commission launched a public consultation and invited all interested parties to comment on the two draft revised Horizontal Block Exemption Regulations on Research & Development (“R&D”) and Specialisation agreements (“R&D BER” and “Specialisation BER” respectively, together “HBERs”) and the draft revised Horizontal Guidelines.

The press release can be found here.

Deadline for submitting contributions: 26 April 2022.

 

EUROPEAN GROWTH MODEL

On 2 March the European Commission published a Communication on the European Growth Model with  common objectives towards the green and digital transition.

The Communication recalls that in order to achieve the digital targets for 2030 the EU needs to step up investments in key digital technologies, including cyber security, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, data spaces, blockchain and quantum computing, and semiconductors, as well as in the relevant skills.

The press release can be found here.

RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE FACILITY: FIRST ANNUAL REPORT

On 1 March the European Commission published the first annual report on the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The Commission has so far provided a positive assessment of 22 plans. The adopted plans allocate 26% of the total amount to digital expenditure.

The press release can be found here.

DATA GOVERNANCE ACT

The European Commission published the results from the webinar dedicated to the Data Governance Act (DGA). The event was focused on the policy and the legal aspects of the DGA.

More information can be found here.