European Electronic Communications Code

The Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) has issued 11 guidelines in accordance with Directive (EU) 2018/1972 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 establishing the European Electronic Communications Code – the ‘EECC’: 

  • Intra-EU Communications (update); 
  • Minimum Criteria for a Reference Offer; 
  • General Authorisation Notifications;
  • Network Termination Point;
  • Geographical Surveys of Network Deployments;
  • Numbering Resources for non-ECN/non-ECS;
  • Quality of Service;
  • Public Warning Systems;
  • Very High Capacity Networks;
  • Symmetric Access Obligations;
  • Co-Investment Criteria.

Intra-EU Communications (update)

As of 15 May 2019, any retail price, excluding Value Added Tax, charged to consumers for regulated intra-European Union (EU) communications must not exceed a maximum of EUR 0.19 per minute for calls and EUR 0.06 per SMS message. BEREC defines general provisions and specific rules for parameters to assess the sustainability of these provisions.

Status: Published Guidelines

Consultation: Consultation Report

Working Group: ROAMING

Source: Art 50 BEREC Regulation

Minimum Criteria for a Reference Offer

The National Regulatory Authority (NRAs) may impose obligations for transparency in relation to interconnection/access, requiring operators to make public both specified information as well as terms and conditions for supply and use, requiring operators to publish a reference offer. BEREC guidelines set the minimum criteria for a reference offer. The scope is:

  • terms and conditions for the provision of network access;
  • details of operational processes;
  • service supply and quality conditions;
  • general terms and conditions of the agreement.

Status: Published Guidelines 

Consultation: Consultation Report

Working Group: REMEDIES

Source: Art 69 EECC

General Authorisation Notifications

BEREC will be in charge of maintaining an EU database of the notifications transmitted to the competent authorities, and serve as a point of information. To simplify and harmonise the existing national forms, BEREC prepared guidelines on the notification template.

Status: Published Guidelines

Consultation: Consultation Report

Working Group: REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

Source: Art 12 (4) EECC

Network Termination Point

The location of the network termination point has an impact on whether a piece of equipment at the customer premises is part of the public network or part of the telecommunications terminal equipment. The BEREC guidelines provide guidance to NRAs on common approaches to the identification of the network termination point in different network topologies.

Status: Published Guidelines

Consultation: Consultation Report

Working Group: FIXED NETWORK EVOLUTION

Source: Art 61 (7) EECC

Geographical Surveys of Network Deployments

The BEREC guidelines assist in the consistent implementation of the NRAs’ and/or other competent authorities’ obligations to conduct a geographical survey of the reach of electronic communications networks capable of delivering ‘broadband networks’.

Status: Published Core Guidelines  

Consultation: Core Guidelines Consultation Report

Status: Published Procedural Guidelines 

Consultation: Procedural Guidelines Consultation Report

Status: Published Verification Guidelines

Consultation: Verification Guidelines Consultation Report

Status: Published Handbook 

Working Group: STATISTICS AND INDICATORS

Source: Art 22 EECC

Numbering Resources for non-ECN/non-ECS

The NRAs and/or other competent authorities may grant rights of use for numbering resources from the national numbering plans for the provision of specific services to undertakings other than providers of electronic communications networks or services.

The BEREC guidelines describe common criteria for the assessment of the ability of the abovementioned providers to manage numbering resources and the risk of exhaustion of numbering resources.

Status: Published Guidelines

Consultation: Consultation Report

Working Group: REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

Source: Art 93 EECC

Quality of Service

The BEREC guidelines detail the Quality of Service parameters, including parameters relevant for end-users with disabilities, applicable measurement methods, the content and format of publication of the information and quality certification mechanisms.

Status: Published Guidelines

Consultation: Consultation Report

Working Group: END USERS

Source: Art 104 EECC

Public Warning Systems

The guidelines are based on a qualitative assessment of factors defining coverage and affecting the capacity of warnings transmitted to reach the end-users concerned. BEREC encourages information sharing so that authorities can benefit from exchange of experiences and learn about relevant technology updates.

Status: Published Guidelines

Consultation: Consultation Report

Working Group: WIRELESS NETWORK EVOLUTION

Source: Art 110 EECC

Very High Capacity Networks

‘Very High Capacity Networks (VHCN)’ is a new and important concept of the EECC and is also used in other initiatives undertaken by the EU institutions. The BEREC guidelines describe the criteria a network has to fulfil in order to be considered a VHCN. They are based on the definition of the term ‘VHCN’ in the EECC and on data collected from network operators. These Guidelines were updated in October 2023, where criterion 4 was updated based on data collected from mobile network operators on 5G, while the other three criteria remain unchanged.

Status: Published Guidelines

Consultation: Consultation Report

Working Group: FIXED NETWORK EVOLUTION

Source: Art 82 EECC

Symmetric Access Obligations

The guidelines will provide guidance to the NRAs on criteria to determine key aspects for the application of the extended and amended provision on symmetric access regulation in accordance with Article 61(3) EECC. Under certain circumstances, NRAs may impose access to a point beyond the first concentration or distribution point.

The BEREC guidelines set out the relevant criteria for determining:  

  • the first concentration or distribution point;
  • the point, beyond the first concentration or distribution point, capable of hosting a sufficient number of end-user connections to enable an efficient undertaking to overcome the significant replicability barriers identified;
  • which network deployments can be considered new;
  • which projects can be considered small; and
  • which economic or physical barriers to replication are high and non-transitory.

Status: Published Guidelines

Consultation: Consultation Report

Working Group: FIXED NETWORK EVOLUTION

Source: Art 61 (3) EECC

Co-Investment Criteria

Undertakings which have been designated as having significant market power in one or several relevant markets may offer commitments to open the deployment of a new VHCN to co-investment if it consists of optical fibre elements up to the end-user premises or base station. In accordance with Article 76 EECC, if the offer complies with a set of conditions set in paragraph one, the Single Market Programme Regulation for the markets affected by these commitments is lifted.
The aim of the BEREC guidelines is to foster the consistent application by the NRAs of the conditions defined in Article 76(1) EECC.

Status: Published Guidelines

Consultation: Consultation Report

Working Group: MARKET AND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

Source: Art 76 EECC