In response to the BEREC consultation on its draft report on over-the-top (OTT) services, the GSMA agreed with BEREC that the current definition of electronic communications services has become obsolete and a new approach is required to enable legislation to keep pace with technological developments. The GSMA also recommended that harmonisation of rules for services across the EU Member States should ensure:
- All rules applied to the various communication functions are consistent, and applied irrespective of the provider or the technology. In principle, all services that enable communication should only be subject to horizontal consumer rules, with specific rules in selected areas only where necessary. It is important to distinguish between cases where competition, rather than regulation, can deliver policy objectives and cases where regulation might be required.
- Consistency of rules relating to privacy, security and neutrality in a proportionate way across the whole Internet ecosystem, as well as to all services that enable communication.
- The definition of communications functions reflects recent changes in technology. Regulators should assess which regulations are still needed, which can be removed and which need to be adapted.
- Quality standards of services that are highly valued by the customer are preserved without specifically burdening the providers of such services. For example, voice calling services based on phone numbers, which enable connectivity across networks and ecosystems, need to be maintained.
- Specific rules in selected areas are only applied where the benefits for society exceed the costs.
The full response can be found here.