Telecom Industry Progress Report May 19 - June 2, 2023
Telecommunications
NATIONAL NEWS
From May 23, Romania has a new inter-institutional working group for the transposition of Directive (EU) 2022/2557 on the resilience of critical entities. The working group is formed by representatives of ministries and public institutions with responsibilities in the fields of activity regulated by the Directive (including MCID, ANCOM, STS) and is coordinated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It will meet in bimonthly meetings or whenever necessary, until the completion of the national normative framework for transposition and the approval of the subsequent normative acts, following which the critical entities will be identified.
Changing the register, two weeks ago, the Competition Council submitted to public debate the commitment proposals formulated by RCS&RDS SA, Orange Romania and Orange Romania Communications SA (ex-Telekom Romania Communications SA) with the aim of eliminating the situation that led to the initiation of investigations regarding a possible abuse of dominant position on the market for the service of issuing technical site approval. Thus, RCS&RDS undertakes to implement an internal procedure to regulate the pricing method for issuing technical site approvals, by establishing a fixed rate, to which is added a variable rate, established based on the estimate. In addition, the company wants to change the current way of forming the tariff, setting the prices for issuing opinions according to several criteria. RCS & RDS is also committed to implementing an operational registration support system through which applications would be automatically registered in the form of a ticket containing the applicant's documents.
Instead, the commitments proposed by Orange Romania aim at choosing a service provider to ensure the lowest rates for issuing notices. The external supplier will be selected based on the best price offered for the two tariff categories: the basic tariff (established for the issuance of approvals for a single construction) and the network tariff (concerns projects related to the street and utility networks of infrastructure operators). As for Orange Romania Communications SA, it undertakes that the rates will return to the level of those charged before the initiation of the investigation. The Competition Council offers interested parties the opportunity to send comments on the proposed commitments until June 26, 2023, to the address [email protected] .
Finally, 945 villages will be connected to very high-speed internet, through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), PM Nicolae Ciuc? conveyed , through State Councilor Sorin Costreie, at the opening of the 7th edition of the "Bucharest Tech Week". According to him, the Government has assumed "an active role" in the development of technology and digital solutions, supporting the consolidation of this infrastructure and the promotion of innovation.
EUROPEAN NEWS
Last week, BEREC launched a call for contributions on the BEREC Report on Member States' best practices to support the definition of adequate broadband internet access service (IAS) within the framework of the universal service. We remind you that in 2020 BEREC published the first report on Member States’ best practices to support the defining of adequate broadband Internet Access Service (IAS). The input of the interested parties cand be submitted by June 5, here . At the same time, another call for contributions was launched by BEREC, this time on its Guidelines detailing Quality of Service (QoS) parameters. We remind you that in 2020, BEREC published the first guidelines detailing QoS parameters. The guidelines stated that the process of undertaking a review will commence two years from the adoption and publication of the guidelines by BEREC. The purpose of the project in question is to prepare and publish the first review of the guidelines detailing QoS parameters. On this matter, the stakeholders can submit their contributions also by June 5, here .
?MAIN LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
L334/2023 – draft bill approving GEO 48/2023 , which brings measures to ensure effective access to emergency services through the single European number for emergency calls 112
?L323/2023 – draft bill approving GEO 37/2023 on the extension, until December 31, 2030, of the validity period of the license for the use of radio frequencies for the terrestrial transmission of public broadcasting programs
Data protection
NATIONAL NEWS
Marking five years since the application of the GDPR, the National Supervisory Authority (ANSPDCP) presented a summary of the most significant aspects of its so far 2023 activity. No less than 1,565 complaints, notifications and notifications regarding security incidents were received this year, based on which 199 investigations were opened, and 36 fines were imposed in the total amount of EUR 71,900. In the same period, data operators submitted 66 notifications on data security breaches and 114 notifications regarding possible non-compliance with GDPR provisions. The received complaints and notifications concerned aspects such as: disclosure of personal data to third parties or on the Internet, use of video surveillance means at work, non-compliance with the conditions for informing the persons concerned and their rights, receiving unsolicited commercial messages by means of electronic communications, disclosure of minors' data.
EUROPEAN NEWS
The European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association (ETNO) and several other associations issued a joint statement on access to data by public bodies. They consider that Chapter V of the Data Act proposal sets an obligation for companies to make any data available to public bodies but does so by loosely referring to various cases of ‘exceptional need’, and, therefore, means that any public body, at EU, national, regional, or local level, could request any type of data, including personal data, from any data holder, for any reason. Additionally, the associations recommend the following: (1) Only public emergencies can give rise to data; (2) Personal data cannot be in the scope of Chapter No exceptions; (3) Categories of public bodies that can request data must be "expressly"; (4) Access requests conditions must be strengthened, with transparency regarding data use and protective measures.
At the same time, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) published its opinion on the proposal for a Directive which aims at further expanding and upgrading the use of digital tools and processes in company law. While the EDPS understands that it might be necessary to make certain categories of personal data public to achieve specific and clearly defined objectives of public interest, the objective of transparency cannot be invoked as an end. To ensure compliance with Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter, the EDPS considers that the objectives of public interest justifying disclosure of personal data should be articulated more clearly in the enacting terms of the Proposal. In addition, the categories of personal data to be made publicly available should be specified in an exhaustive manner, having regard to the requirements of necessity and proportionality.
领英推荐
Digitalization and AI
NATIONAL NEWS
Romania has two new councils dedicated to digitization and Artificial Intelligence (AI), under the coordination of the Ministry of Digitization (MCID): (1) the Honorary Council for Science, Innovation and Technology - COSIT and (2) the Scientific and Ethical Council in Artificial Intelligence. As for COSIT, on May 26, its first members were appointed for a 2-year mandate. Established last year, COSIT is an independent, honorary, and consultative body, which will formulate strategic recommendations for the development of research, innovation, and technology in Romania, based on the analysis of global trends and good practices from other countries. Instead, the Scientific and Ethical Council in Artificial Intelligence is composed of members with diverse experience in the field of AI and will provide advice on the responsible and ethical use of AI to the Government of Romania and national authorities.
?Changing the register, MCID provided a series of details on the implementation of the commitments made through the PNRR in the field of digitalization of public administration. For example, the investment regarding the implementation of the governmental cloud infrastructure was accomplished by signing the investment implementation contract based on a bidding procedure. So, by the 4th quarter of 2024, at least 30 public institutions will be connected to the government cloud. Regarding the ongoing measures for the digital transformation, MCID claims that, through the specialists of the Operative Group for the Implementation and Monitoring of Reforms and Investments regarding the Digital Transformation - Task Force, partnerships and collaborations with several ministries and private entities were concluded for important projects of digital transformation, such as the digitalization of the academic course, agricultural high schools, and services intended for the private environment.
?
On the side-lines of this idea, MCID and the Authority for the Digitalization of Romania (ADR) launched , on May 25, the ROeID mobile application, which ensures the digital identity of all Romanian citizens, facilitating their authentication in all the digital platforms that the Romanian state administers, while also connecting to other digital government platforms across the European Union. An ID card image, a selfie and a short video are the necessary steps to create an ROeID account.
EUROPEAN NEWS
The European Commission is investing EUR 46 million from the Digital Europe Programme into piloting and enhancing the European digital identity (EUDI) wallet. This investment is supporting 4 pan-European pilot projects that will develop and test the usage of the EUDI wallet for individuals and businesses around a diverse range of everyday use cases. These cover both public and private services with national and cross-border interactions. One of these projects is (1) “POTENTIAL - Pilots for European Digital Identity Wallet Consortium” , under the coordination of Germany and France with the involvement of 17 Member States and Ukraine, and?involves over 50 public administrations and over 80 private entities. The project will apply the EUDI wallet to 6 use cases: Access to government services; Opening of a bank account; Registration for a SIM card; Mobile driving license; eSignatures; ePrescriptions. The 3 other projects are (2) EWC , (3) NOBID , and (4) DC4EU .
MAIN LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
Law no. 151/2023 approving GEO no. 91/2022 – the possibility of using tablets and laptops with internet access purchased through POC and for school activities with physical presence
Government Decision no. 504/2023 – the necessity and opportunity of making the expenses related to the investment project "Implementation of the Governmental Cloud infrastructure"
L282/2023 - draft bill on pre-university education
Government Decision no. 466/2023 – the necessity and opportunity of making the expenses related to the investment projects "The development of security systems for the protection of the governmental spectrum" (doc ) and "Increasing the resilience and cyber security of infrastructure services of Internet service providers for public authorities in Romania" (doc )