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The European Commission is drawing up new, more flexible rules for mergers in the telecommunications sector. A contribution from large internet companies to the 5G infrastructure is also
The European Commission is drawing up new, more flexible rules for mergers in the telecommunications sector. A contribution from large internet companies to the 5G infrastructure is also on the table again.
New rules for the European telecommunications sector are being prepared. A document seen by Reuters shows that the European Commission wants to give a boost to telecom operators amid heavy investments in 5G and fiber optic infrastructure. One of the proposed measures is to be more flexible in mergers between telecommunications companies.
Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Spanish Téléfonica and Telecom Italia, among others, have been urging the European institutions to rethink the merger rules for some time and now appear to be right. Too much market fragmentation could “hamper operators’ ability to achieve the scale needed to invest in the networks of the future,” the document said.
“Different forms of upstream cooperation” should not endanger “downstream competition,” the text continues. With this comment, the European Commission does not seem to want to simply allow large players to take over small, independent providers.
The document in question also reiterates the (controversial) “fair share” principle. This means that companies behind the websites that attract the majority of internet traffic, such as Google, Amazon, Netflix and Co., must make their contribution to the 5G infrastructure in proportion to the amounts of data for which they are responsible.
The internet giants, of course, see things differently, but the European Commission appears to be increasingly siding with telecom operators on this issue. “The Commission could consider expanding the scope and objectives of the current regulatory framework to ensure a level playing field and equal rights and obligations for all actors and end-users of digital networks,” Reuters quotes the document as saying.
The proposed rules will not come overnight. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager will present the proposal to several stakeholders on February 21. This is intended to provide the necessary feedback to potentially convert the document into a formal legal text. Then several rounds of voting and approval are necessary until everyone within the European institutions can have their say.
Source: IT Daily
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