2023-10-11 16:45:00
This is the European Union’s new major digital project. Thierry Breton engaged, this Tuesday in a message on LinkedIn, in a long plea aimed at very fundamentally revising the rules which govern the telecoms sector on the Old Continent. It is now necessary, according to the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, to “redefining the DNA of regulation” to which operators are subject.
After having carried out a public consultation on the future of telecoms infrastructures, the European Commission intends to deliver“a law on digital networks”, indicated Thierry Breton. The final objective is clear: to encourage the emergence of a real “single market” in this sector, in order to allow its players to grow and invest much more in networks, presented as “a fundamental pillar of growth, innovation and job creation”.
“Facilitating cross-border operations”
Thierry Breton criticizes, in particular, the fragmentation of the telecoms market in Europe. According to him, the text should “facilitate cross-border operations and the creation of truly pan-European infrastructure operators”. Only such actors would, according to the commissioner, “the scale needed to fully exploit the potential of an EU-wide telecommunications market”.
Thierry Breton especially calls for ” face the question “ consolidation operations within each Member State. This subject is particularly thorny. We no longer count the deals blocked by the European Commission in different countries. Until now, Brussels has sided with the consumer, considering that a reduction in the number of operators in a Member State is synonymous with less competition, and therefore increases in the prices of Internet and mobile phone subscriptions. . This is precisely what worries the commission in Spain. It must, in fact, soon rule on the marriage between Orange and its rival MasMovil.
At the same time, Thierry Breton wishes “adapt the regulatory framework” in order to “reduce cost and red tape for rapid technology deployment”. On this front, the commission promises to tackle an ultra-sensitive subject: that of the management of spectrum used by mobile operators to provide 3G, 4G or 5G services. The idea is to harmonize these frequency allocations, which belong to the States, and to make them less costly for operators.
In France, for example, auctions for 5G frequencies brought in nearly 2.8 billion euros to state coffers at the end of 2020. “We must first and foremost look at spectrum management, which has for too long been used by certain governments as a cash cow and which has taken funds away from investments”, ducks Thierry Breton. But will Member States be ready to give up certain prerogatives linked to frequencies, which often bring in big profits? Nothing is less sure.
“More capital” for telecom networks
The Internal Market Commissioner also wants to create the conditions for telecoms to attract “more capital, and more private capital”in “reducing barriers to investment”. Thierry Breton does not specify here how Europe intends to go regarding it. But he considers that this question is not limited to the debates, now heated, on the participation of Gafa in the financing of telecoms networks. “The stakes are higher”he adds, emphasizing that the funds allocated to the deployment of fiber or 5G are not, in the eyes of Brussels, sufficient.
The final part of this future law on digital networks concerns network security. “In today’s world, where geopolitical tensions are increasing, we must ensure full control of our decision-making processes in strategic sectors, such as connectivity, and avoid harmful external interference”, says Thierry Breton. If he welcomes the ” progress “ carried out in recent years regarding the security of 5G networks, the French commissioner deplores “gaps” persistent in different areas.
Huawei and ZTE in the sights of Brussels
Two sensitive files await the commission here. The first concerns the Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers Huawei and ZTE. Last June, Brussels considered that they constituted a risk for the security of the EU, and called for them to be excluded from mobile networks. If France has already taken measures to gradually reduce Huawei’s footprint in France, this is not the case for Germany, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands or even Bulgaria, which still uses Chinese equipment extensively.
The second issue that concerns the EU is Europe’s dependence on American submarine cables. These are essential to the proper functioning of the Internet. In recent years, Europeans have massively converted to the services of American Internet giants, and their data is largely stored in the United States. Any cut in traffic at the level of the transatlantic submarine cables would then plunge a large part of the European digital ecosystem into darkness. In summary, the development of this new law on telecoms will not be ” not easy “, admits Thierry Breton. However, the commissioner says he is determined. “We will not hesitate to do what is necessary”he insists.
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