Representatives from European industry and the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) have questioned the added value of the “European passport” proposed by the European Commission as part of the draft Digital Networks Act (DNA), presented on 21 January, aimed at facilitating the provision of pan-European services and operations, and strengthening the single market for connectivity (see EUROPE 13791/8).
“Certain provisions risk increasing complexity without providing clarification (...). This is the case with the single passport system. While we welcome efforts to streamline general authorisation across Europe, this must not be at the expense of enforcement mechanisms or lead to competition between different countries where services and networks are provided”, warned BEREC Chair, Alejandra de Iturriaga Gandini, at a conference dedicated to the DNA, organised on 18 May by the Cyprus Presidency of the EU Council. She also felt it was necessary to clearly specify governance powers and preserve the independence of regulators.
Representing the fibre optics industry, Francesco Nonno also said that it was “difficult” to assess the added value of the single passport. “We do not really understand how this will improve harmonisation”, explained the President of the FTTH Council Europe. On the other hand, he welcomed the fact that the Commission had proposed licences of unlimited duration and common criteria for spectrum allocation, believing that these measures “will encourage investment”, as will the planned phase-out of copper cables, which he sees as “a very effective means” of promoting private investment in fibre.
The Director General of Connect Europe, Alessandro Gropelli, representing Europe’s leading connectivity network and service providers, welcomed the fact that the DNA “could be a game-changer for 5G”, while acknowledging that “more work” was needed on simplification. He also called for “more incentives” to speed up the roll-out of fibre optics in Europe.
Conversely, Transatel’s Head of Regulation and Policy, Donald Connor, representing mobile virtual network operators (MVNO Europe), said that the “single passport authorisations in Articles 10 and 12 are broadly welcome”, as “a single notification procedure across the 27 Member States reduces the practical fragmentation that has held back operators of all sizes, including mobile virtual network operators with cross-border ambitions”. However, he criticised the fact that Articles 24 and 25 of the proposal provide for “unlimited spectrum licences by default” and that the abolition of licence renewals “does not guarantee the future of connectivity, but that of the incumbent players”.
Bruno Liebhaberg, Executive Chairman of the Centre on Regulation in Europe think tank, believes that the single passport authorisation scheme and other measures in the proposal “will probably only modestly reduce the obstacles to cross-border expansion”. He also called for “compensation, with a funding model that is transparent and harmonised between Member States” to cover the costs associated with the exclusion of certain companies from the construction of infrastructure deemed to be unreliable. “The cost of this withdrawal, particularly with regard to Huawei’s 5G infrastructure, should not be quietly passed on to operators”, he warned, when this exclusion is “justified” by strategic autonomy imperatives. At the same time, he described as “problematic” the fact that the proposal gives “a lot of powers to the Commission”, in particular “the extension of the Commission’s power of veto over the decisions of national regulatory authorities”. “Greater centralisation should at least be accompanied by effective rights of appeal and legitimate room for manoeuvre for national regulators, given that local conditions generally differ”, he concluded.
“In a world where technological leadership increasingly defines economic and geopolitical power, Europe must ensure that our digital backbone is built in Europe, developed in Europe and trusted by Europeans”, said Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty. She stressed the DNA’s ambition to “complete Europe’s digital single market for connectivity” and to overcome fragmentation in Europe due to “often different authorisation regimes, spectrum approaches and regulatory complexity”. (Original version in French by Ana Pisonero Hernández)