ECTA Regulatory Conference: transition should not be a pretext for reversing the pro-competitive model of the EU telecoms sector

Brussels, 18 November 2014: More than 300 policy makers, regulators, industry stakeholders and representatives of consumers will join this year’s ECTA annual conference as the new mandates of the European Commission and European Parliament have just begun. Confirming the key contribution of the digital sector to the economy, the new Institutions have placed digital issues high on the priority list, with the "Connected Digital Single Market” at the core of the Juncker Commission’s programme. 

BEREC consults: ECTA suggests competition as a way for results 

16 October 2014: Today ECTA participated in the 2nd BEREC Stakeholder Forum Meeting, which aimed at consulting end-users  and market players on three important topics: BEREC’s Strategy 2015-2017 and Work Programme for 2015,  Margin Squeeze test and a future model for roaming.

EC Recommendation on Relevant Markets:  key competition safeguards maintained; national regulators must remain vigilant to avoid detriment to end-users

Brussels, 10 October 2014: Yesterday the European Commission adopted its revised Recommendation on Relevant Markets Susceptible to Ex-Ante Regulation. This Recommendation lists the telecoms markets to be examined by National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs), with a view to deciding whether a market is effectively competitive or needs regulation in order to enable competition.

ECTA agrees with BEREC warning against premature de-regulation of fixed voice markets 

Brussels, 13 June 2014: BEREC, the Body of European Regulators, has on Monday published its Opinion on the review of the European Commission’s Recommendation on Relevant Markets, stating inter alia that it is premature to remove the fixed voice markets from the list of regulated telecommunications markets. 

THIS PRESS RELEASE IS ATTRIBUTABLE TO ECTA AS AN ASSOCIATION AND CANNOT BE ASSUMED TO REPRESENT THE OFFICIAL POSITION OF EACH OF ECTA’S INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS NOR CAN IT BE ATTRIBUTED TO ANY PARTICULAR INDIVIDUAL MEMBER OF ECTA.

ECTA asks the European Ombudsman for clarification on the duty to consult

Brussels, 16 May 2014: ECTA, the European Competitive Telecommunications Association, today asked the European Ombudsman to clarify the extent to which the European Commission is bound to consult stakeholders during the preparation of legislative proposals. 

Academic study confirms that more competition leads to better broadband performance 

Brussels, 14 April 2014: Eager to understand why some EU countries perform better than others when it comes to the availability, use and pricing of broadband services? An academic study released today by the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) attempts to answer this question by exploring the differences in broadband performance between EU countries and identifying the key factors responsible for such divergences.

Brussels, 01.04.2014 – The electronic communications industry is highly concerned about the recent developments of the open internet debate at European level. Whilst we support an open internet, a set of misconceptions about our industry, together with a rushed legislative process and a lack of technical analysis, risk transforming the Connected Continent Regulation into an anti-innovation and anti-consumer choice legislation.

It’s not time to rock the boat – Competition key for consumers and to secure network investments

Recommendations of the study on the Future of Regulation and the review of Relevant Markets

Brussels, 12 February 2014: The European pro-competitive framework has helped dismantle the monopolies of the old state owned telecom companies by granting new entrants access to economic bottlenecks and enabling waves of product innovation and levels of consumer welfare not imagined before. This has made the European broadband story, like that of European telecommunications generally, one of success. European consumers and businesses enjoy competitive offers at affordable prices and ever increasing speeds. Yet powerful former monopolies remain dominant in the wholesale markets. Regulation remains essential to ensure that the competitive gains and consumer welfare achieved so far are not reversed, particularly in the transition to Next Generation fibre Access Networks (NGA). This speaks in favour of limited changes to the list of markets regulated ex-ante and to maintaining the European pro-competitive regulatory model as a whole, alongside the vigorous implementation of the framework´s regulatory tools.

ECTA Regulatory Conference - Competition should remain at the heart of EU telecoms regulatory policy

Brussels, 3 December 2013: European policy makers, regulators, key players from the telecoms industry and other stakeholders meet for three days under the auspices of ECTA to discuss pressing issues for the telecoms sector, including the recent European Commission proposal on the telecoms single market.

ECTA welcomes the European Council’s discussions on the digital economy

Brussels, 25 October 2013: ECTA, the pan-European trade association representing over 100 pro-competitive telecoms operators - the leading innovators and fibre investors of Europe – welcomes the discussion and conclusions of the European Heads of State and Government on the digital economy. Indeed broadband has become a utility for both European citizens and businesses, therefore looking forward we have to get the regulatory framework right: nurture competition, which made Europe the global broadband leader and enable efficient investments by the whole sector.   We agree with the building principles of a revised regulatory framework put forward by the European Council: