Digital Markets Act: Joint Position Paper by the GSMA and ETNO

The GSMA and ETNO welcome the European Commission’s initiative to create a harmonised ex-ante instrument targeted at the providers of core platforms services designated as gatekeepers via the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Current legislative instruments are not sufficient to ensure contestable and fair markets in the digital economy. This would also support the DMA’s objective to strengthen the internal market by setting out harmonised rules across the EU.

We share the Commission’s concerns about unfair and anticompetitive conducts by a few large digital platforms, which stifle opportunities for competitors and ultimately have a chilling effect on innovation and diminish consumer choice.

Telecommunications operators are both business partners and customers of online platforms. Furthermore, we strive to compete with gatekeepers in our core business and other activities, such as in cloud computing. Our relationship with online platforms is manifold and includes inter alia the use of online advertising, operating systems incorporating aspects of the device hardware and software, or app stores. Additionally, devices connected through our networks often provide access to the platforms in question.

Beyond these direct links to telecoms’ business activities, telecoms have a vital general interest in Europe’s digital prosperity and sovereignty, which require a healthy and competitive digital platforms sector. An ambitious and balanced DMA has the potential to lead the way, globally, in improving market dynamics in the field of digital services. It can create competitive and innovative markets that deliver superior results for citizens in Europe and worldwide.

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