“Our role is to ensure that Roam Like At Home is not wishful thinking but the reality”

On 15 June, in Malta, BEREC Chair 2017 Mr Sebastien Soriano participated in the Digital Assembly 2017 session on “The new roaming paradigm: Switch on your mobile wherever you are in the EU” where he addressed the BEREC’s role in ensuring the Roam like at Home principle and the future of Europe.

During the session, he outlined that BEREC and National Regulatory Authorities have a very technical and specific work in front of them to ensure that roaming like at home is a sustainable reality as we experience it today: “National Regulators in every country have to control the retail offers of operators to make sure they are respecting the roam like at home principle. We are also looking at the very limited number possible exceptions under the defined conditions. And we can also fix possible disputes between operators in the system.”

When asked about the link between regulation and the global competitiveness of European operators, he pointed out that, while Europe has been lagging behind during the last 15 years in the field of smartphone production and digital platforms, it has now a part to play: “Today all the tech giants are in Asia or in US. So it is important to make sure that we have tech giants in Europe. In the telecoms sectors, it could be through the internet of things. It is a new wave of innovation. So, on this particular subject, we have to make sure that we are not over regulating.”

In that regard, he referred to the forward-looking assessment of the current regulation conducted by BEREC and concluding that there is no need for a specific regulation for the internet of things. Mr Soriano believes it is an opportunity for start-ups to grow and for Europe to be back on track.

The Digital Assembly 2017, is an opportunity for stakeholders to debate, take stock and look ahead at how Europe and how its partners around the world are preparing for this digital transformation. It is also an opportunity to have a dialogue on the benefits of the Digital Union for citizens with a special focus on the younger generations.