BEREC discussed the future of the sector in 5 years under the leadership of the BEREC Chair 2015 – Prof. Fátima Barros

BEREC held its first Plenary meeting of the year in Bern, Switzerland, on 26 and 27 February 2015.

The Plenary meeting was preceded by a public workshop, on 25 February 2015, to discuss the emergence of oligopolies in both fixed and mobile markets, and consider whether existing regulatory tools are adequate to address the potential for “collective dominance”. The workshop benefited from the active participation of stakeholders, as well as from NRAs from markets which have experienced recent market consolidation. More information about the workshop is available here.

During the Plenary meeting BEREC members discussed the main challenges that the sector will face in the next five years, in an attempt to identify potential bottlenecks to be addressed by the next review of the EU regulatory framework. This was the first of a series of sessions for exchanging views with the European Commission aiming at supporting the Commission in its undertaking for the legislative review, in the context of the Digital Single Market (DSM). A number of high level key challenges were identified: in an all-digital society new competition bottlenecks may emerge and must be dealt with to protect consumer choice; ensuring all consumers available and affordable high-speed broadband must be addressed in rural and more sparsely populated areas; the framework must evolve to ensure consumers can engage with digital services with more and more confidence; despite the level and quality of broadband coverage in many regions, lack of demand remains a concern which has to be appropriately addressed.

BEREC will hold a public workshop on equivalent access and choice for disabled end-users on 4 March in Brussels, which will inform the update of BEREC’s previous report on this issue.

Finally, BEREC published its 14^th benchmark report on roaming, under the Roaming III Regulation adopted in 2012.

This was the first BEREC Plenary meeting under the chairmanship of Fátima Barros, President of the Portuguese Regulator, ANACOM.

Riga, 2 March 2015

NOTE TO THE EDITOR

About BEREC

BEREC is composed of a Board of Regulators consisting of the Heads of the 28 national regulatory authorities (NRAs). BEREC advises the European Commission and its member NRAs, and assists the European Parliament and Council, on issues related to the application of the EU regulatory framework for electronic communications. BEREC seeks to ensure fair competition and consistency of regulation in the internal market for electronic communications, for the benefit of European consumers. In particular, it provides expert advice on market definitions, analysis and remedies, on the definition of transnational markets, and on cross-border disputes and numbering issues. BEREC also provides expert opinions on emerging challenges including the promotion of broadband, net neutrality and converging markets, and plays an active role in public discussions on these issues.

For further information:

[email protected]

[email protected]