Public consultation on the draft BEREC Further Guidance on 5G Network Slicing
Deadline to submit contributions: 6 August 2026, 17:00 CEST
During the 67th BEREC ordinary meetings (2-3 June 2026), the Board of Regulators approved the draft BEREC Further Guidance on 5G Network Slicing – an Annex to the BEREC Guidelines on the Implementation of the Open Internet Regulation [BoR (26) 84] for public consultation.
Background
Since 2016, the Open Internet Regulation (OIR) has successfully safeguarded the equal treatment of internet traffic across Europe. For nearly a decade, National Regulatory Authorities’ efforts have contributed to a consistent and harmonised application of the Regulation, protecting end-users’ rights while preserving the freedom to innovate.
Nevertheless, some stakeholders and the European Commission have highlighted a need for greater regulatory certainty regarding the application of the OIR to 5G network slicing.
While BEREC believes that the current regulatory framework remains fit for purpose, it has also recognised that further clarification could support market development and innovation. To this end, BEREC launched a dedicated initiative. The Further Guidance subject of this consultation is the resulting output. Building on an internal workshop and a formal call for input, it accounts for views expressed by a broad range of stakeholders, including major operators, equipment vendors and competing service providers.
Aim and key elements of the Draft BEREC Further Guidance on 5G Network Slicing
This thematic guidance complements the BEREC Guidelines on the Implementation of the Open Internet Regulation and assists operators in self-assessing 5G network slicing-based use cases against the OIR. Grounded in the principle of technological neutrality, this Further Guidance promotes innovation while ensuring compliance. On the one hand, it elaborates on how slicing can be used to provide internet access services and specialised services in a manner consistent with the OIR requirements. On the other hand, the guidance also contains a list of generic slicing-based situations with BEREC’s preliminary remarks.
Submit your contributions
Against this backdrop, BEREC kindly invites all interested stakeholders to submit their observations and contributions regarding the Draft BEREC Further Guidance on 5G Network Slicing. The purpose of this public consultation is to provide BEREC with feedback from stakeholders and to increase transparency on BEREC’s work.
We would also appreciate your feedback on these Draft Guidelines and, in particular, the following specific questions:
- Do the different examples reflect the expected use cases in the sector? If not, what improvements would you suggest?
- Are there other use cases or implementation possibilities of network slicing you would like to see covered in the guidelines?
- Would additional information be needed in the assessment of the use cases for further clarity?
All stakeholders are invited to submit their contributions via email to [email protected] by 6 August 2026, 17:00 CEST.
We strongly encourage all stakeholders to submit their contributions as early as possible. Contributions received after the deadline mentioned above will not be considered.
After submitting the contribution via email, an automatic confirmation reply will be generated. If you do not receive this confirmation email, the contribution submission was not successful and should be resubmitted.
Contributions should preferably be submitted in English. Please ensure that the overall size of the email (including attachments) does not exceed 2 MB.
In accordance with BEREC’s privacy policy on public consultations, all contributions will be published on the BEREC website, taking into account requests for confidentiality and publication of personal data. Upon submission, stakeholders can request confidentiality of all or part of the documents submitted to the public consultation. If there is no clear indication that all or parts of the documents are confidential, BEREC will presume that the documents can be made publicly available. Please note that it is also possible to submit both a confidential and a public version of a given contribution.
Further information on the Open Internet rules in the EU.