ECTA, ETNO, GIGAEurope and GSMA release joint statement warning Act will penalise rather than support telecom industry
Four European telco industry associations, ECTA, ETNO, GIGAEurope are warning that the ongoing Gigabit Infrastructure Act (GIA) negotiations, currently grinding their way towards completion, risk turning it into a measure that penalises telecoms operators, without producing any real benefit in terms of administrative simplification. In effect, they say, achieving the opposite of what the legislation was meant to do.
The four – which represent most of the telecom industry is Europe – voiced “strong concerns” and warned of unintended consequences if proposals are implemented in their current form.
The Gigabit Infrastructure Act is originally designed to promote the establishment of high-capacity networks by encouraging the shared use of existing physical infrastructure and facilitating the efficient deployment of new infrastructure – accelerating network rollout and reducing costs. The proposal in its original form targets the excessive expenses associated with “electronic communication infrastructure deployment”, particularly due to complex and varied permit-granting procedures across Member States.
The four state that while the European Commission originally intended for this regulation to provide a way to reduce the cost and time of 5G and gigabit network roll-out, instead, current negotiations risk turning it into a measure that penalises telecoms operators, without producing any real benefit in terms of administrative simplification.
“Key measures that would help speed up network rollout are now being placed into doubt. These include so-called ‘tacit approvals’, which allow fibre installation when construction permits are not granted within a reasonable timeframe,” state the four. “Furthermore, the historic effort to invest in 5G and fibre across the EU is being met by proposals of aggressive price regulation in competitive markets for intra-EU communications, without any impact assessment or evidence of market failure.”
Maybe it ain’t broke after all?
The four associations conclude that in its current form, the Gigabit Infrastructure Act looks worse than current but old legislation. “Unless the original spirit of the European Commission proposal is preserved, the EU telecom industry believes that retaining current rules would be less damaging to network rollout than implementing an ill-conceived Regulation. This risks leaving a damaging legacy on our sector under the remaining EU mandate,” they state.
“The provision of digital networks is not solely the concern of telecom companies: they are critical for the prosperity of the whole of Europe, providing the backbone of a modern, efficient and sustainable economy for European citizens.”
Law grinds on
The Gigabit Infrastructure Act is currently at the last stage of the legislative process, with the EU Commission, Council and Parliament meeting in so-called trilogue formats. Although co-legislators agree on the objective enshrined in the EU’s Digital Decade targets, they disagree on how to achieve them. Still, they are expected to bridge their differences at the next and possibly last trilogue on 5 February.
Although not mentioned in the latest open letter, last September the four associations called out the European Parliament for confirming it would back new regulations on international call rates within the EU. The associations argued that retail price regulation has no place in the Single Market and that adding these “unjustified” provisions to the GIA were not in spirit of the Act and were a distraction.
“There is no evidence of any market failure in the provision of intra-EU calls and SMS justifying such an intrusive measure as a direct requirement to equalise prices with domestic calls and SMS, as the Parliament proposes,” the associations stated at the time.
Euractiv suggests despite the protestations of the telco associations the final text should include provisions on intra-EU communications, including a review clause and a limit in time and conditions to prevent abuses. A glide path should also be incorporated. The so-called tacit approval principle – where no answer by a public authority would mean build work was approved – is still the subject of a lot of horse-trading between MEPs who want this done quickly against Member States who worry that implementation will be problematic to enforce. If watered down, the telcos will rightfully claim the Act isn’t delivering what was originally intended.