Outline

ThOn 18th and 19th October EMERG will hold a workshop on OTT regulation, Cross Boarder content portability, Big Data regulation and Key market indicators in Rome, Italy.e workshop will cover different topics, which are of extreme relevance in the electronic communications sector, nowadays.

Regarding the OTT services, the BEREC, (Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications) , in its report published in 2016, acknowledged that availability of OTT services is also driving a change as for the competitive dynamics and technology scenarios in communication markets.
The BEREC report focuses on the relation between OTT services and electronic communication services aiming at defining the main differences and similarities between the traditional provider of electronic communication services and the new subjects, the OTT.
In 2016, the European Commission proposed the revision of the current regulatory framework, (European Electronic Communications Code), introducing the OTT players in the scope of the Directive, as new market players. In particular, the Code, which is currently under scrutiny, proposes that OTT who provide equivalent communications services to those provided by traditional telecoms operators are covered by similar rules, in the interest of end-user protection. However, the Commission has been careful that such regulation is not extended unduly, but all different emerging models for over-the-top services will be progressively introduced in the scope of the current regulatory framework, in order to ensure a level playing field.
Furthermore, the workshop will provide with some ideas regarding the evaluation of the impact of the OTT services in the electronic communication market in terms of market power and Telco operators’ strategies.
The second session of the workshop will deal with the cross-board content portability, as the right of the consumers to enjoy of contents legally purchased in its country of residence also when abroad. The EU approved recently a Regulation on this regard: Regulation (EU) 2017/1128 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 on cross-border portability of online content services in the internal market.
As it is for the application of the Roaming-Like-At Home Regulation, also the portability of contents presents some criticisms because on one hand it grants the consumers with the right of have access to the contents purchased in its own country also abroad, but on the other hand there is the need to prevent the circumvention of the Regulation itself leading to a distortion of the market competition.
In the third session of the workshop, Big data will be the focus of the presentations and of the discussion among the EMERG Members. Building a data economy is part of the European Digital Single Market strategy. The EU initiative aims at fostering the best possible use of the potential of digital data to benefit the economy and society.
Generally, the free flow of non-personal data has been considered a leverage for boosting a competitive data economy in the Digital ecosystem: the aim is to allow companies and public administrations to store and process non-personal data wherever they choose.

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