The “Subsea World” Conference https://events.capacitymedia.com/event/754b5365-b633-4311-99de-5bac5757f20a/summary was held in Marseille (France) on 10 and 11 July and was dedicated to digital innovation through submarine cables.
Patrícia Silva Gonçalves, member of ANACOM’s Board of Directors and Vice-Chair of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC), took part in a fireside chat https://events.capacitymedia.com/event/754b5365-b633-4311-99de-5bac5757f20a/websitePage:645d57e4-75eb-4769-b2c0-f201a0bfc6ce, to discuss the regulatory context and licensing process for submarine cable systems in the European Union (EU).
Patrícia Silva Gonçalves, member of the Board of ANACOM and Vice-Chair of BEREC, took part in the “Subsea Word” Conference.
The discussion covered the rapid growth of international Internet bandwidth as well as recent technological and business trends over the years. The emergence of open cables and open landing stations, SMART cables and the fact that content and application providers (CAPs) have moved from being major users to major owners by investing in their own submarine cables were highlighted.
The ANACOM Board Member and Vice-President of BEREC observed the impact of these trends on the licensing process and discussed the applicability of the regulatory framework for electronic communications. Overall, industry stakeholders recognise the EU institutional model as favourable to business and consider the general authorisation regime applicable to electronic communications as a global best practice. The role of European regulators and BEREC in this outcome was emphasised, in promoting open and competitive markets through a predictable regulatory framework that seeks to strike the right balance between innovation and the proper functioning of the market, providing EU end-users with reliable and high quality electronic communications.
In this chat, Patrícia Silva Gonçalves gave an overview of initiatives at EU level relating to submarine cables, with reference to the recent European Commission Recommendation on the safety and resilience of submarine cable infrastructures, NIS2 and the CER directives, as well as various funding programmes.
Finally, the ANACOM Board Member and Vice-Chair of BEREC urged stakeholders to continue to work with European regulators to address future international connectivity issues by actively participating in BEREC’s public consultations and stakeholder events, underlining the importance of this close dialogue between the submarine cable industry and regulators.
Fireside chat with ANACOM Board Member and BEREC Vice-Chair Patrícia Silva Gonçalves and Ulises Pin of Morgan Lewis & Bockius, LLP.
Further information:
- BEREC Vice-Chair outlines possible legal ramifications of new global connectivity trends https://www.berec.europa.eu/en/news-publications/news-and-newsletters/berec-vice-chair-outlines-possible-legal-ramifications-of-new-global-connectivity-trends
