BEREC launches sector engagement programme with operator summit

On 12 April 2012 BEREC will meet some of Europe’s largest fixed, mobile and cable operators, including both incumbents and alternative operators. This marks the start of a strategic dialogue with the sector, which will be rolled out over the course of the next two years.

The April session, and the preparatory session which will precede it, will be closed, and will take place under Chatham House rules. The sessions are not intended as opportunities for participants to repeat well-known public lobbying lines, but rather as platforms for free and open debate and information exchange.

Going forward, BEREC intends to convene similar sessions with user groups, as well as with service providers, vendors and other sector innovators. In such a technologically dynamic environment, it is crucial that BEREC’s on-going strategic dialogue extend beyond those already in the game, to include those whose research and development will chart the future direction of the sector. And as the success of new technology relies on demand for its applications, users (including consumers as well as businesses) are also crucial interlocutors.

BEREC has a statutory role as advisor to both national regulators and the European institutions. This strategic dialogue is intended to complement the intelligence BEREC derives from the regulatory expertise of its members, with the perspectives of those most affected by regulation in the sector. The insights and understanding that BEREC expects to glean from these meetings will help it to shape its annual work programme, as well as its longer-term strategic thinking, and help it to discharge its role as advisor, developer and promoter of regulatory best practice.

BEREC very much looks forward to the launch of what it hopes will be a continuing, frank and open dialogue.