Ref. Ares(2022)7463882 - 27/10/2022
Ref. Ares(2022)7271063 - 20/10/2022
Minutes of meeting between EVP and ECTA on 7 September 2022
Attendants for the Commission: EVP Vestager, Penelope Papandropoulos (Member of Cabinet), Ida
Fallesen (Member of Cabinet), DG COMP
Attendants for ECTA: See separate participants list
ECTA (European Competitive Telecommunications Association) focused on bringing three key policy
points to the attention of the EVP. These were as follows:
OTT fair share: At this stage, ECTA does not yet have a common position as the members
have varying positions. It is unclear what the consequences on consumers would be. In
addition/as an alternative to monetary payments, perhaps one should consider whether the
quality of content sent to a mobile phone needs to be the same as when sent to a larger e.g.
TV screen. Adapting the quality to the hardware on which it is received could save
bandwidth. In any event, what is critical is that there is a full reflection, public consultation
and impact assessment.
EVP explained the debate has not matured yet and there is therefore no set view yet.
Deregulation: ECTA members are concerned about the trend to deregulate incumbents, with
a view to make them invest more. However, the experience is that deregulating incumbents
does not spur investment but rather simply allows the incumbents to dictate access terms.
Access Recommendation: ECTA is concerned that there has been no public consultation on
the access recommendation and there is no clarity on the process. ECTA argued that it will
have a fundamental effect on the bottom line of telcos. ECTA disagrees with DG CNECT’s
interpretation of Article 74 of the EECC.
The EVP took note of the concerns raised.