Page 107 - SAMENA Trends - November-December 2019

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

EU Countries Fail to Agree on Privacy Rules Governing WhatsApp, Skype

EU efforts to create a level playing years ago with its proposal for an ePrivacy officials said. Tech companies and some
field between telecoms operators and regulation which would ensure that tech EU countries have criticized the ePrivacy
Facebook’s WhatsApp and Microsoft unit companies offering online messaging and proposal for being too restrictive, putting
Skype stalled on Friday (22 November) email services would be subjected to the them at loggerheads with privacy activists
after member countries failed to agree on same tough rules as telecoms providers. who back the plan. “By first watering down
the scope of proposed rules. The European Disagreements between EU countries on the text and now halting the ePrivacy
Commission kicked off the process two complex issues such as rules for cookies Regulation, the (European) Council takes
tracking users’ online activities, provisions a stance to protect the interests of online
on detecting and deleting child pornography tracking advertisers and to ensure the
and consent requirements however have dominance of big tech,” said Diego Naranjo
stymied the process. EU countries need at digital civil rights group European Digital
to come up with a stance before they start Rights (EDRi). It is not clear what the next
talks to thrash out a common position with step will be. Croatia, which takes over the
the Commission and European Parliament. EU Presidency January 1, may seek to
EU ambassadors meeting in Brussels resume the negotiations.
on Friday again reached an impasse, EU

Operators Call for European Digital Plan

The chief executives of the largest operator industrial policy to help the region’s businesses Richard (Orange); Jose Maria
groups in the European Union called for a consis- compete on the global stage; measures enabling Alvarez Pallete (Telefonica);
tent digital industrial policy alongside measures “European innovation” in data for IoT and AI; rules and Sigve Brekke (Telenor).
to reduce the cost of deploying fixed and mobile to lower the cost of deploing network infrastruc-
networks. A statement published by the Europe- ture; and moves to address fragmentation in the
an Telecommunications Network Operators’ As- telecommunications market. The group said its
sociation (ETNO) and signed by the executives, aims would help meet wider goals outlined by new
outlined four focus areas to ensure optimal use of European Commission president Ursula von der
digital communications networks to drive indus- Leyen in a speech outlining the priorities for her
trial and societal change. The executives called premiership last week (27 November). She formal-
for a strategy backed by politicians, industrial ly took the role on 1 December. CEOs backing the
leaders and other organizations within the eco- document include Timotheus Hottges (Deutsche
nomic bloc. Measures proposed include a united Telekom); Nick Read (Vodafone Group); Stephane

FCC Mulls Use of 3.1GHz-3.55GHz, 5.9GHz Bands

The US Federal Communications to enable commercial use of spectrum motor vehicle-related communications.
Commission (FCC) has revealed that it is in nearby bands, including the 3.55GHz- But unfortunately, it’s never been widely
exploring potential use cases for spectrum 3.7GHz band and the 3.7GHz-4.2GHz band, deployed … We’re proposing to designate
in the 3.1GHz-3.55GHz and 5.9GHz commonly called the C-band. Together, the lower 45MHz of the 5.9GHz band
bands. Setting out the regulator’s position these three bands would make a massive exclusively for unlicensed uses like Wi-Fi …
regarding the 3.1GHz-3.55GHz band, FCC amount of prime mid-band spectrum Another part of our proposal advances the
Chairman Ajit Pai commented: ‘Today’s – as much as 680MHz – available for cause of automotive safety. Specifically,
proposal would enable continued use of the new fixed and mobile wireless services.’ we’re proposing to reserve the remaining
spectrum by the Department of Defense, Regarding the 5.9GHz band, meanwhile, 30MHz of spectrum in the 5.9GHz band
while creating a glidepath for this critical Pai noted: ‘Exactly 20 years ago, the exclusively for transportation-related
mid-band spectrum to be freed up for 5G. Commission allocated 75MHz of spectrum communications technologies [notably
Clearing the upper 250MHz of the band in the 5.9GHz band for a technology called Cellular Vehicle to Everything, or C-V2X].’
of existing non-federal operations would Dedicated Short-Range Communications,
build upon the Commission’s ongoing work or DSRC. DSRC was designed to facilitate

107 NOVEMBER 2019