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Mike Conradi's focus is on providing commercial and regulatory advice to businesses in the telecoms sector. Learn More

**NOTE – THERE IS AN UPDATED VERSION OF THIS NOTE HERE **

The new European Communications Code (the “Code” – which we have blogged about here) will introduce a mechanism allowing investments in fibre networks made by operators with significant market power (SMP), in some circumstances, to be excluded
Continue Reading Co-Investment Models for Broadband Infrastructure – an explanation and short critique

**NOTE THERE IS AN UPDATED VERSION OF THIS POST HERE**

It is now almost two years since the European Commission proposed a new “European Electronic Communications Code” (the “Code”) which would amend and consolidate the current regime (dating from 2002). [i]

On 29 June 2018 a new, amended, draft was published. This is expected to go to a final vote in the Autumn of this year.

The Code will, when finalised, repeal the existing 2002 Directives and replace them with a single, consolidated text, for implementation in Member States within two years. Having spent some time reading through the (c.450) pages the main changes or issues appear to be as follows:Continue Reading The new European Electronic Communications Code

By Christoph Engelmann, Senior Associate, Hamburg

DLA Piper recently advised a client (Transatel) on a very interesting matter leading to the German telecommunications regulator Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA) issuing a landmark decision on the applicability of the Roaming Regulation on so-called 901 International Mobile Subscription Identities (IMSI). In this decision BNetzA
Continue Reading Germany: Roaming Regulation and IoT services

Article by Catherine Gysels, DLA Piper Brussels

According to Belgian criminal law, providers of telecommunication services are obliged to cooperate if an investigating judge orders a wiretap measure. In November 2017, Skype was found guilty of failing to give essential information and provide a wiretap on Skype calls as
Continue Reading Lawful intercept on VoIP services – Skype in Belgium

This note consolidates information we have available on the current (July 2017) status of telecoms regulator’s considerations of zero-rated offers in Europe. See also our other posts on zero-rating.

Conclusion:

  • Many European regulators are yet to consider the issue of net neutrality and zero-rated services following the 2015


Continue Reading Zero-rating and net neutrality – decisions (so far) in the EU

My colleague Emil Odling, lead partner for IP and Technology in Stockholm, has written the piece below discussing a decision this week of the Swedish courts which suspends the decision of the Swedish regulator which would have required Telia to stop some practices on the basis that they infringe the net neutrality rules. Note that although the offers concerned are zero-rated it appears that the PTA’s (now suspended) decision looked at traffic management more generally and did not consider zero-rating specifically.

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On 8th of March 2017, the Swedish Administrative Court of Appeal ruled to inhibit the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority’s (“PTA”) decision to prohibit partially state-owned telecom and mobile network operator Telia Company AB’s (“Telia”) distribution of two services which according to the PTA constituted a breach of the so called Open Internet Regulation.Continue Reading Net Neutrality in Sweden – PTA decision suspended

As new technologies emerge, and are treated differently across jurisdictions, businesses need to stay alert to changes in the regulatory landscape

The chief disruptors in telecoms today are found in new media companies – businesses that often did not originate in the telecoms sector but who are increasingly challenging the
Continue Reading Telecoms: the challenge of keeping up with cross-border regulation