While the EC’s digital infrastructure white paper took centre stage, speakers also highlighted the increasing criticality of ensuring network security and resilience
Working groups outlined the range of issues within BEREC’s remit, even as participants returned to the EC’s white paper in almost every session
On 26 March 2024, BEREC hosted its annual Stakeholder Forum, gathering regulators, operators, tech firms and others from across Europe. The event kicked off with a series of small ‘meet and greet’ sessions in which co-chairs of the BEREC Working Groups provided detail on their proposed priorities for 2024/25 and offered opportunities to comment and inquire on previous work. In the Digital Markets session, regulators discussed their roles in supporting the implementation of the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act, noting that 19 out of 27 telecoms regulators in the EU have been appointed as Digital Service Coordinators. In Cybersecurity, participants shared concerns over data localisation or “data sovereignty” across the EU given that Member States’ responsibilities for security matters could result in potential fragmentation. Common to the End Users and Wireless Network Evolution Working Groups was the matter of 2G/3G shutdowns and the protection of vulnerable consumers through that process. While the former is also interested in the impact of inflation-linked price rises (pointing to Malta as a potential example of regulatory best practice), the latter will be revisiting the role of satellite connectivity, particularly given the emergence of direct-to-device (D2D) technology. The Markets and Economic Analysis session touched on a range of issues, including physical infrastructure access (PIA) rules, strategic overbuild, geographic SMP designation and co-investment. Both TIM and Vodafone argued that Article 76 of the EECC (which sets the terms for co-investment) has always been too complex and that there is scope for simplification. Input from an upcoming workshop on this issue, among others, will inform BEREC on whether it needs to reconsider its guidelines that advise how this provision should work in practice.
Senior figures provided context of the future of European regulation, setting the scene for BEREC’s work and the EC’s vision expressed in the white paper
Robert Mourik (Incoming BEREC Chair 2025 and Commissioner, ComReg) served as compère for the afternoon discussions, firstly outlining progress on developing BEREC’s 2025 work programme, which will be grounded in three strategic objectives: promoting full connectivity; supporting sustainable and open digital markets; and empowering end users. Mourik stated that BEREC has already carved out some time and capacity to work on the forthcoming review of the EECC, but it doesn't yet know what the scope of that will be. He then handed over to Roberto Viola (Director General, DG CONNECT) who used his keynote address to further promote the digital networks white paper – clearly the event’s hot topic, which was raised in almost all of the morning’s meet and greets. Viola underlined the EC’s determination to switch off copper bloc-wide by 2030, while proposing a new authorisation model for telecoms involving licences for a “European network operator” rather than the current approach of having one per Member State. In the future, Viola stated that the EU could not afford the same delays to spectrum auctions witnessed with some priority 5G bands and also suggested that the EC was prepared to fund subsea cable projects – another issue that is top of mind following the recent recommendation.
Tensions flared over the EC’s diagnosis of the health of the sector, while disconnect was apparent in its push for pan-European operators
Operators, policymakers and regulators picked up the topic of the day in the first panel session, which was dedicated to debating the EC’s recent white paper. Ingrid Malfait-Guilbaud (Director of European Affairs, Iliad Group) questioned the pessimistic picture of the sector painted in the white paper, an assessment that has been praised by some operators at other recent events. However, the rest of the panellists agreed with Konstantinos Masselos (BEREC Vice-Chair 2024 and President, EETT) that the white paper laid out a necessary vision for a sector unprepared to meet future connectivity needs. Returning to a familiar point of an apparent disconnect between the EC and operators, Carlos Rodriguez Cocina (Director of EU Affairs, Telefónica) reiterated the common refrain of operators that in-market scale – via consolidation – was needed before anyone could turn to the EC’s vision of pan-European operators. Cocina lamented the focus on the effect on prices rather than investment and quality as the primary benchmark by which mergers are measured, while Masselos considered that the benefits of cross-border deals require further analysis.
Panellists also discussed the inclusion of cloud services as an electronic communications network and the possibility of access agreements as the white paper’s homage to the long-running fair share debate. Notably, the white paper’s extensive chapter on spectrum was not discussed. While this could be seen as a major omission given the central role of BEREC members in spectrum management, it may also suggest that stakeholders view the white paper as broadly balanced on that front. Malfait-Guilbaud later urged caution in light of the EC’s apparent push to do away with a list of markets susceptible to ex-ante regulation and instead to recommend regulators rely solely on the three criteria test, adding that duct access was valuable in supporting altnets’ fibre rollouts. Kamila Kloc (Director, DG CONNECT) appeared unconvinced by the importance of this remedy, stating it had not featured in many market review notifications over the past few years. Just as disagreement was more evident among panellists than in some prior events, passions ran high among representatives from challengers and consumer organisations among the audience who faulted an alleged lack of public debate for stifling discussions on the financial health of the sector and the perceived negative impacts on competition of the white paper’s proposals.
Panellists detailed challenges in network resilience, from the dire possibilities of public emergencies to the daily needs for secure connectivity
The second panel opened with a keynote on network resilience provided by Oleksandr Zhyvotovskyi (Chair, NCЕC). Zhyvotovskyi detailed the threats to secure connectivity posed by the ongoing war in Ukraine, but was adamant that the lessons learned there should be heeded by regulators and operators everywhere, which could face similar challenges in the face of natural disasters. Jaakko Wallenius (Chief Security Officer, Elisa) echoed these sentiments when describing the Baltic Sea cable break Elisa experienced in October 2023, saying that while that incident appeared to be instigated by a bad actor, damaged cables were a common and ordinary event that require appropriate preparedness and redundancy. Speaking from his role in developing the UK’s Telecommunications Security Act, Ian Levy (Distinguished Engineer and VP, Amazon) expressed the central challenge of network security in the market’s frequent failure to reward resilience, noting “nobody pays for security”. While Levy proposed a prescriptive approach from regulators to setting resiliency standards and to communicating their expectations from operators, Sheila Becker (Head of Network and Information Systems’ Security, ILR) countered that a more collaborative approach allows regulators to benefit from the expertise of operators and discourages the tempting possibility of concealing security incidents. Having begun the session with the most dire of scenarios for network security, Zhyvotovskyi closed the conversation with a call to action on securing networks for the more mundane realities of digitised societies, stressing that with the introduction of digital wallets and identification, network resilience is no longer “just about watching Netflix anymore”.
