ECTA

28 June 2017 - ECTA's CEO Council enjoys constructive dialogue with Vice-President Jyrki Katainen on competition as the basis for investment and innovation

ECTA's CEO Council is an advisory body supporting the ECTA Board and Executive Director in their corporate objectives and synchronising messaging at a high level.

Participants (in the picture) to the meeting were from left to right:

• Mr. Gijs Phoelich, Chairman ECTA
• Mr. Jørgen Bang-Jensen, CEO Play Mobile
• Mr. Alex Goldblum, CEO Eurofiber
• Vice-President Jyrki Katainen
• Mr. Meinrad Spenger, CEO MASMOVIL
• Mr. Maxime Lombardini, CEO Iliad
• Mr. Carl Grivner, CEO Colt Technology Services
• Mr. Luc Hindryckx, Executive Director ECTA

12 January 2017 - ECTA’s Executive Director Luc Hindryckx participated in roundtable on 5G and the Gigabit Society in the European Parliament

On 12 January, ECTA’s Executive Director Luc Hindryckx participated in a roundtable on 5G and the Gigabit Society, organised in the European Parliament by MEP Michal Boni (EPP, PL). The aim of the meeting was to exchange views and best practices with the stakeholders and associations involved in these fields and feed Mr Boni’s work on the report on Connectivity for a European Gigabit Society and 5G for Europe: An Action Plan, on which he is rapporteur. Speaking during the roundtable, Mr Hindryckx reminded that future mobile networks need to be backed by very high capacity (VHC) fixed infrastructure (backhaul) offering specific quality parameters. As alternative and small operators invest more than incumbents in comparison to their size, which fosters a fair environment for innovation by verticals and start-ups, he then stressed the need for policy makers to focus on the take up of VHC connectivity and to promote competition as the driver of investment in the telecom sector.

15 November 2016 - Luc Hindryckx, Executive Director of ECTA, spoke at the ‘B-Day: Going Giga" Conference organised by the Commission

On 15 November, ECTA’s Executive Director Luc Hindryckx participated in the ‘B-Day: Going Giga’ Conference, organised by the European Commission to bring together European authorities and stakeholders and discuss the European strategy for a Gigabit society. Speaking during the panel discussion ‘the Gigabit Ambition Debate’, Mr. Hindryckx highlighted alternative telecom operators’ engagement to the EC’s Gigabit vision. He underlined how challengers are massively investing in Very High Capacity Connectivity and recalled that competition is paramount to drive the investment by all operators needed to meet the objectives of the Gigabit Society.
You can find more information and the agenda of the event here.

12 October 2016 - ECTA organised dinner debate at the European Parliament hosted by MEP Kumpula-Natri

On 12 October, ECTA organised a dinner debate “The digital challenge and the telecoms framework - how to maximise investments and promote good connections for consumers?” at the European Parliament, hosted by Finnish MEP Kumpula-Natri (S&D). The event gathered MEPs, representatives from the European Commission, national regulators and BEREC as well as telecoms attachés from several Member States to discuss how to foster the development of high-speed connectivity while at the same time ensure sufficient take-up by keeping prices at affordable levels for consumers. The debate particularly focused on how to shape a new telecom regulatory framework that safeguards competition, end-user choice, innovation and consumer protection and continues to ensure stable and consistent conditions for investors, operators and service providers in the Digital Single Market.
For more information, a dedicated feed on the event is available on our Twitter account.

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Today, 12 March 2015, representatives of ECTA Members met with Fátima Barros, 2015 BEREC Chair to discuss the Digital Single Market and emphasise the importance of competition in delivering innovation and investment.

MEP Gunnar Hökmark hosted with ECTA a luncheon discussion on 25 March 2015.



During the lunch Ms Danielle Kehl, Policy Analyst at the Open Technology Institute in Washington, presented the 2014 study on the Cost of Connectivity, bringing evidence about broadband market dynamics in 24 cities such as London, Bucharest, Berlin, Mexico, Seoul and US cities.  Danielle Kehl’s presentation can be found here and the study and its executive summary are available here

ECTA CEOs met with Günther Oettinger, European Commissioner for Digital Economy & Society, to discuss IT infrastructure needs for 2025 and the way to reach a very high-speed connected Europe. 

Participants to the meeting were:
• Norbert Westfal, President, BREKO and Managing Director EWE TEL (DE)
• David Zimmer, Vice-President, VATM and CEO, Inexio  (DE)
• Jürgen Hermann, CEO, QSC (DE)
• Alex Goldblum, CEO, Eurofiber (NL)
• Hubertus von Roenne, ECTA Chairman
• Erzsébet Fitori, ECTA Director

ECTA CEOs met with Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition, to discuss a range of competition issues in the context of the telecoms framework.

Participants to the meeting were:
• Alex Goldblum, CEO, Eurofiber (NL)
• Martin Witt, CEO, 1&1 Communications SE (DE)
• Jorgen Bang-Jensen, CEO, PLAY (PL)
• Allison Kirkby, CEO, Tele2 AB
• Andrew Crouch, EMEA President, Level 3 Communications
• Hubertus von Roenne, ECTA Chairman
• Erzsébet Fitori, ECTA Director

ECTA CEOs met Vice-President Andrus Ansip to discuss the importance of competition and the forthcoming Telecoms Framework Review

Participants to the meeting were:
• Maxime Lombardini, CEO, Iliad/Free (FR)
• Thomas Ekman, CEO, Tele2 Sweden (SE)
• Jørgen Bang-Jensen, CEO, Play (PL)
• Alex Goldblum, CEO, Eurofiber (NL)
• Juergen Hermann, CEO, QSC (DE)
• Andrew Crouch, Regional President EMEA, Level 3 Communications (UK)
• David Zimmer, CEO, Inexio, Vice-President VATM (DE)
• Gijs Phoelich, ECTA Chairman
• Erzsébet Fitori, ECTA Director