Call for inputs on views on the impact of 5G on regulation, and to the role of regulation in enabling the 5G ecosystem

5G is expected to enable new use cases across a range of industry sectors (sometimes referred to as ‘verticals’). In order to better understand the potential impact of 5G on regulation, we are seeking comments from businesses and organisations who are interested in, or planning to utilise 5G connectivity, in order to ensure that regulation is not a barrier to innovative services.  

Many aspects of regulation are involved in the 5G ecosystem. How these are addressed could affect the pace at which innovative services are brought to market – especially vertical solutions. This project aims to help National Regulatory Authorities for electronic communications anticipate the issues involved and to support the pace of innovation.

BEREC is the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications. 5G is a strategic priority of BEREC’s medium-term strategy 2018-2020, and it will continue to be a priority in coming working programs. Informed by this initial round of stakeholder comments, this year BEREC will develop a report concerning the impact of 5G on regulation and the role of regulation in enabling the 5G ecosystem.

This report will be the first step in identifying responsibilities that may be addressed by BEREC or rather by other competent authorities. Some topics have already been explored to a certain extent in the last years.

This project aims to anticipate any changes to regulations that may be required to keep pace with innovation. It will build on the work previously undertaken by BEREC in this area, for example the study BEREC commissioned in 2018 on the implications of 5G deployments on future business models. BEREC has also published a number of reports and common positions related to 5G, such as reports about fixed/mobile convergence, infrastructure sharing, spectrum authorisation and award procedures, and coverage obligations. Additionally, infrastructure sharing and monitoring of mobile coverage were further studied and published as BEREC common position.

The list of regulatory aspects that we are currently seeking comments on is the result of brainstorming sessions within the BEREC Working Group Planning & Future Trends (short: BEREC WG PFT). The complete list can be found in the Annex to this letter. The WG PFT invites stakeholders to indicate if:

• The list is complete, and if not please indicate which regulatory aspects are missing
  • Please briefly describe the missing aspect, and the role that BEREC could take.
• Which aspects should get BEREC’s priority in the coming three years.
  • Priority both in terms of relevance and urgency are appreciated.

The WG PFT would also like to take this opportunity to ask stakeholders’ for feedback on the relevance of the use cases discussed in the before mentioned study by DotEcon/Axon on Implications of 5G Deployment on Future Business Models. Are the use cases mentioned in that study still representative for the currently identified use cases? Which other important use cases should be studied, due to for instance different regulatory needs?

BEREC highly appreciates your response by 2 September 2019. Please send your input to [email protected] . Please note that BEREC does not intend to provide individual responses to inputs received or publish stakeholder inputs.

From the WG PFT this is an early call for input from stakeholders. Nothing in this document represents BEREC’s views, which have yet to be determined. Input from stakeholders will be used to help inform the aforementioned report. The report is to be adopted for public consultation at 41^st BEREC ordinary meeting (5-6 December, 2019). From 11 December 2019 stakeholders will be invited to respond to the consultation of that report, to share their views on the impact of 5G on regulation, and to the role of regulation in enabling the 5G ecosystem.