Digital Networks Act: EU Commission asks for comments

The EU Commission opened the consultation process for the planned Digital Networks Act (DNA) on Friday. Affected companies, organizations and citizens have until 11 July to submit their comments on the proposed legislation.

The consultation is based on the White Paper published by the previous Commission, with which Brussels launched the process last year. The Commission aims to adopt a concrete legislative proposal by the end of 2025.

For networks and the cloud

With the Digital Networks Act, the Commission wants to standardize the rules for telecommunications services in the EU and bundle more competencies in Brussels. Considering the increased desire for more independence from large US companies, the Commission is focusing primarily on network infrastructure and cloud services.

The Commission hopes that the consultation will provide insights into "hurdles in cross-border business transactions" that could hinder the further development of an efficient European infrastructure. The rules for the telecommunications sector are to be "simplified and further harmonized", the Commission announced on Friday.

Critics fear that the Commission is fulfilling a long-held wish with the DNA: In the telecommunications sector, companies with market power are to emerge as "European champions" that can compete with "big tech" from the USA. This could lead to competition within the EU suffering.

Concerns about competition

The response from German industry is therefore cautiously optimistic. The German Broadband Association (Bundesverband Breitbandkommunikation, Breko) and the Association of Providers in the Digital and Telecommunications Market (Verband der Anbieter von Telekommunikations- und Mehrwertdiensten, VATM) welcome the Commission's initiative in principle, but want to see competition in the internal market safeguarded.

"In addition to simplifying the legal framework, reducing bureaucratic hurdles and adding further instruments to accelerate the expansion of 5G and fiber optic networks, the focus must clearly be on safeguarding and promoting dynamic competition in the telecommunications market," says VATM CEO Frederic Ufer. "This is the only way to achieve the Commission's rightly ambitious digital goals and secure them in the long term."

"To be able to adhere to the ambitious goals of the EU's 'Digital Decade', fair competition must continue to be guaranteed in the future. After all, competitors are responsible for the majority of fiber optic expansion, especially in Germany," says Breko Head of Policy Lisia Mix. "It is particularly positive that the EU Commission wants to accelerate the transition from copper to fiber optic networks with the DNA."

(vbr)