4th BEREC Stakeholder Forum - Summary of proceedings

4th BEREC Stakeholder Forum took place on 17 October 2016, in Brussels (Belgium).BEREC Stakeholder Forum was fully open to the public. In addition live web streaming, with sign interpretation, was provided. Citizens and other interested parties had an opportunity to watch it in real time and send comments or questions to the speakers through the official BEREC account on Twitter by using #BERECforum. During the Forum participants and web-streaming audience were introduced to the draft BEREC Work Programme 2017.

First session
Connectivity challengesEuropeans consider connectivity as a top-priority. During this roundtable, various speakers will present connectivity challenges for European economy and society. They may remind components of connectivity (coverage, quality of service, traffic, tariffs). Speakers will also present the state of play of current usages and end-users’ needs, as well as technical solutions to improve connectivity and current infrastructure roll-out in Europe and possible developments. The roundtable will also be an occasion to discuss competition dynamics in the sector as well as their impact on investments. In this context, the speakers will discuss the opportunity to reform the sector’s regulation paradigm.

Second session
Fast-changing digital environmentNew services, new challenges and new opportunities for innovation. Development of the internet, access to which has been democratised by telecom operators, has enabled new economic activities to emerge. During this roundtable, the speakers will present activities constituting the digital economy and the role of regulation in this constantly changing sector. In particular, interactions between new actors in digital environment and more traditional operators as well as development of commercial partnerships and evolution of radio frequencies usage will be discussed. Speakers will also analyse the impact of open internet regulation on different undertakings in the value-chain and on innovation dynamics.