ECTA

27 - 28 November 2018 - ecta Regulatory Conference 2018 and CEOs meeting with Vice-President of the Commission Andrus Ansip

The ecta Regulatory Conference 2018 was organised under the title: "After 20 years: Competition past, present and future".

The focus of the conference were questions such as how to protect and stimulate telecoms competition and its role in the digital transformation of the European economy as a whole, twenty years after the full liberalisation of telecommunications in the EU? Do the successes of competition remain viable or have they come under threat? 

High-level representatives from the European institutions, regulators and industry experts met to discuss the challenges and opportunities, both the ones well-known and the ones only now emerging.

You can find full information about the keynotes, panel sessions and midday briefings as well as networking opportunities ecta organised here. 

At this occasion, ecta's CEO Council met with the Vice-President of the European Commission Andrus Ansip. They enjoyed a constructive discussion about the changes brought by the European Electronic Communications Code and discussed the state of competition: where has it been in the EU telecommunications industry for the pas twenty years, where is it now and where it will go. 

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

Participants to the meeting were:

• Mr. Gijs Phoelich, Chairman of ecta
• Mr. Martin Witt, CEO, 1&1 Telecommunications SE
• Mr. Maxime Lombardini, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Iliad
• Mr. Didier Casas, Deputy Director General, Bouygues Télécom
• Mr. Emmanuel Forest, Executive Vice-President European and Institutional Affairs Bouygues Group 
• Mr. Luc Hindryckx, Director General of ecta

20 November 2018 - ecta participated to the “Broadband Days: Mind the Broadband Gap” Conference organised by the European Commission in Brussels 

The Broadband Days organised by the European Commission every year are an opportunity to discuss progress made in terms of regulation, financing and deployment of broadband networks.

With the participation of the Commissioner Gabriel, the discussion focused on the post-2020 MFF, the implementation of the European Electronic Communications Code, the WiFi4EU initiative and others.
ecta, represented by its Director General Luc Hindryckx, participated to the panel "Connectivity for All - the Digital Divide Challenge" that focused on broadband development in rural areas.

Mr. Hindryckx stressed the importance of affordability and the need to have a level playing field in the State Aid allocations.

"When we accord State Aid, we need to make sure we do not reinforce the already dominant position of the incumbent. This is very important for affordability" says Mr. Hindryckx. 

17 October 2018 - Luc Hindryckx, Director General of ecta intervened at the 6th BEREC Stakeholder Forum in Brussels

The leitmotive of the meeting organised by the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) in Brussels, was the will of Regulators to strengthen their communication and exchanges with stakeholders.
Jeremy Godfrey, the BEREC Chair 2019, presented the draft BEREC Work Programme 2019-2020, which will mainly focus on the European Electronic Communications Code implementation and BEREC's role in providing guidance on how different provisions should be applied. 
In his intervention, Luc Hindryckx, Director General of ecta, stressed out that "from ecta’s perspective, BEREC’s relevant measure of success is the achievement of genuinely competitive markets for electronic communications networks and services at local, regional, national and EU levels in order to ensure high take-up and inclusiveness. No one should fall behind."

11-12 October 2018 - ecta spoke at the ITU Forum: "Towards 5G enabled Gigabit Society" in Athens

ecta, represented by its Director General, Luc Hindryckx, spoke at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Forum on 5G in Athens.

The forum focused on opportunities related to 5G and challenges to be addressed in infrastructure roll-out, spectrum management and broadcasting, while referring to the vision of turning Europe into a Gigabit Society by 2025. 
Mr. Hindryckx participated to the panel on "Challenges and Opportunities in the Telecom Sector Implementing 5G". 5G is expected to provide growth and innovation in all sectors of the economy. However with these great expectations come a lot of unanswered questions and new challenges. In his intervention, Mr. Hindryckx outlined these challenges but also opportunities 5G represents for competitive telecommunications. 

12 September 2018 - Luc Hindryckx, Director General of ecta spoke at the Metro Connect Europe event in Amsterdam 

Metro Connect Europe is an annual meeting for leaders of the communications infrastructure industry and enables high-end networking between C-level executives representing metro service providers, carriers, data centres, venture capitalists, private equity firms, consultants and cable companies.

Luc Hindryckx, Director General of ecta participated in a panel discussion entitled "How is regulation driving fibre investment"? 

During the discussion, the panelists tried to answer questions such as how will Europe's Single Market agenda drive the investment in fibre, how does the Europe Electronic Communications Code impact business models, how will new co-investment rules ensure long term investment and what cross industry regulation is required to deliver metro fibre for the future. 

21 June 2018 - ecta spoke at the ISPA and VAT event "Opportunities and risks for alternative providers in broadband rollout" in Linz 

13-14 June 2018 - ecta's Director General Luc Hindryckx spoke at the BEREC internal workshop on data economy ahead of the 35th BEREC plenary meeting in Gdnask in the panel on "Challenges and the role of NRAs in the transition to a Data Economy"

6 June 2018 - ecta celebrated its 20 years of promoting competition for the greater good of society 

For that great occasion, ecta organised a high profile event, not only to reminisce about everything ecta and its members achieved in the past 20 years, but also to discuss the challenges that still lie ahead. 

You can find the Press Release about the event here, and all the information about the program and the speakers here. 

5 June 2018 - ecta spoke at the ISPA Forum 2018 on data ownership and its implications for alternative operators in Vienna

ecta, represented by its Senior Regulatory Affairs Manager, Oliver Füg, took part in the debate on data ownership and the implications for alternative operators.

How can alternative operators, providing innovative solutions, extend their activities to benefit from the opportunities of the data economy? 
To a panel spanning application development, legal counsel, road traffic user interests and academic enquiry, ecta contributed with policy and regulatory insights from Brussels.

A lively panel discussion and exchange with the audience highlighted issues and sketched possible solutions for today and tomorrow. 

12 - 13 April 2018 - ecta participated to the Europa Forum Lech 2018

ecta, represented by its Director General, Mr. Luc Hindryckx, took part in the two-day event on the future of the EU, organised by the Municipality of Lech, Austria. 

More than 100 high-level politicians, representatives of international institution, academia and industry shared the view that Europe should stand strong, be more competitive at the global scene, keep fostering economic growth and job creation and take greater responsibilities for the safety and security of its citizens. 

In the many panel discussions, breakfasts briefings and high profile debates, ecta stressed the importance of competition for European welfare.