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Regulatory framework for electronic communications in the EU today

The EU legal framework for regulating telecoms services has been developed with the aim of developing a better-functioning internal market for telecommunications networks and services. These rules have been updated in 2009 to take account of developments in this fast-moving field.

The EU’s regulatory framework aims to promote free and fair competition and to create a strong communications industry in Europe, which is boosting Europe’s economy by supporting every area of activity which relies on electronic communications. Consumers are the ultimate beneficiaries.

The rules which govern the electronic communications sector in the EU, in force since 2002, were revised in November 2009 and were to be transposed into national legislation in the 27 Member States by 25 May 2011. In this fast-developing sector, the regulatory framework needed to be revised to ensure it continues to serve the best interests of consumers and industry in today’s marketplace. The Commission is in charge of monitoring the timely and correct implementation of the revised rules by Member States.

The EU regulatory framework covers all forms of fixed and wireless telecoms, data transmission and broadcasting. The regulation of the content carried by such services is, however, dealt with under separate rules.

Electronic communications are more than ever central to our lives and work. Economic and social activities alike have come to rely on communications services and infrastructure. The sector is changing rapidly, however. Major developments since the 2002 regulatory framework was agreed include the growth in voice-over-internet (VOIP) telephony and the uptake of television services through broadband lines.

In economic terms, the communications sector is one of Europe’s most important, (with annual turnover of around €332 billion), and accounting for around 4% of the jobs in the Union. More widely, the prices charged by the sector represent a direct cost of doing business in Europe. Liberalisation in the telecoms sector in the EU, launched in the mid 1980s, has brought significant benefits for consumers. The price of telecoms services have fallen, on average, by around 30% in the past decade. Moreover, the introduction of competition has raised standards of service all round, making former monopolies much more respondent to the needs of consumers.

In the internal market, telecoms operators and service providers have the right to set up and offer their services throughout the EU. Encouraging and enabling them to take advantage of those rights boosts the overall quality of telecoms services for consumers, and reduces the prices they have to pay for them. The revised framework aim at enabling citizens, wherever they live and wherever they travel in the EU, to benefit from better and cheaper communication services, whether they use mobile phones, fast broadband internet connections or cable TV. To achieve this, the revised EU rules are:

• Strengthening consumer rights
• Giving consumers more choice by reinforcing competition between telecoms operators
• Promoting investment into new communication infrastructures, in particular by freeing radio spectrum for wireless broadband services
• Making communication networks more reliable and more secure, especially in case of viruses and other cyber-attacks

BEREC (Body of European Regulators of Electronic Communications), the European Telecoms Body will help ensure fair competition and more consistency of regulation on the telecoms markets. BEREC is made up of a Board composed of the heads of the 27 national telecoms regulators and is assisted by an Office. BEREC's decisions will be taken, as a rule, by majority of heads of the 27 national telecoms regulators. The seat of BEREC is established in Riga (Latvia).

Consumer rights

Telecoms services are now a staple of everyday life, and the EU framework ensures that every citizen, no matter where they live, has the opportunity to obtain a basic telephone service capable of both voice and internet use, for an affordable price. Offers and contracts must provide sufficient information and use fair conditions.

Providers of electronic communications services have access to consumers’ private information and personal data. Ensuring that the privacy of users is properly respected is one of the objectives of the framework. This includes rules on protection against malicious attacks through spam, spyware and the like.
Find out about consumer rights.

 

Open markets

In markets recently opened to competition, incumbent operators, in most cases former monopolies inevitably dominate the sector, and so regulators need to ensure that they do not use their position unfairly to squeeze out new competitors. Granted access, many new entrants have demonstrated that they can compete strongly in recent years, raising standards in the sector to the benefit of consumers.
Read about market access
Read about open markets.

 

Radio waves

We all are increasingly using wireless communications devices, whether for convenience, to keep up whilst on the move but also more and more for essential applications. However, radio spectrum, which all such devices must use to communicate wirelessly, is already very crowded in many areas. Due to the limited number of suitable frequencies and the large number of users in given locations, wireless applications need to rely on the sharing of radio spectrum between users. This in turn requires more sophisticated technologies and appropriate spectrum management to avoid harmful interference between devices.

Under the framework, the EU aims to harmonise spectrum access conditions in the single market whenever this is necessary to ensure efficient use of radio spectrum or to enable interoperability of underlying equipment. For example the switchover from analogue to digital television broadcasting is freeing up valuable spectrum, making extra resources available for enabling new services, such as mobile internet access. In order to ensure that such services are developed effectively and that consumers benefit from the internal market in radio equipment, coordination at EU level is often a critical factor.
Learn about radio spectrum policy

Broadcasting

The past decade or two has seen a revolution in television and radio broadcasting. Where once choices were restricted to a small number of channels received on a dedicated box, viewers and listeners today often have difficulty managing the wealth of channels available. Delivery routes have multiplied, and computers and even mobile phones are increasingly used to view or listen to broadcasts. EU action in this field is encouraging rapid switchover to digital television.

More on broadcasting

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