Stories from Abroad

On June 13, 2023, the European Parliament voted to adopt its annual competition policy report.

The European Parliament adopted its negotiating position on the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act with 499 votes in favour, 28 against and 93 abstentions ahead of talks with EU member states on the final shape of the law.

The European Commission has informed Google of its preliminary view that the company breached EU antitrust rules by distorting competition in the advertising technology industry (‘adtech'). The European Commission takes issue with Google favouring its own online display advertising technology services to the detriment of competing providers of advertising technology services, advertisers and online publishers. The European Commission preliminarily finds that, since at least 2014, Google abused its dominant positions by:

Nearly 1.4 million kilometers (870,000 miles) of metal-encased fiber crisscrosses the world’s oceans, speeding internet traffic seamlessly around the globe. The supply and installation of these cables have been dominated by companies from France, the US and Japan. The Chinese government started successfully penetrating the global market, but consecutive US administrations have since managed to freeze China out of large swathes of it.

Whether you believe that generative AI has the potential to change the world for good, or that it poses more risks than benefits, most experts agree it is likely to have a significant impact on the future of our economy and society as a whole. This is certainly true for the communications industries. From security to broadcast content, and from online safety to spectrum management, generative AI promises to disrupt traditional service delivery, business models, and consumer behaviour. The use of generative AI could also pose risks.

Telecommunications ministers from at least 18 European Union countries have rejected a proposal by network operators to have major technology companies fund the rollout of 5G and broadband. The proposal, put forward by lobbying groups GSMA and ETNO (which represent 160 operators across Europe), says that big tech companies that account for more than 5% of a provider’s peak average internet traffic should help foot the bill for rolling out the services across Europe.

Digital technologies launched, in many ways, by the microelectronics revolution and the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) advances which ensued in the 1970s—have had a profound impact on economies around the world. increased digitalization has resulted in shifts in the nature and functionality of labor markets on both the demand and supply sides.

The European Commission has approved unconditionally, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Inmarsat by Viasat. The European  Commission concluded that the merger would not raise competition concerns in the European Economic Area (‘EEA') or any substantial part of it. The decision follows an in-depth investigation of the proposed acquisition of Inmarsat by Viasat. Both companies are providers of ‘two-way' satellite-based communication services.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), in a filing on behalf of the US government, urged the European Commission to promote affordable access to broadband, protect users’ access to online content, and avoid discriminatory measures that distort competition. The filing on May 19 is in response to the European Commission’s exploratory consultation on The Future

On December 14, 2022, Openreach notified Ofcom of a new pricing offer for its full-fiber services (Equinox 2). This offer gives lower prices to retail providers—such as BT, Sky, TalkTalk, and Vodafone—if they agree to use mainly Openreach’s full-fiber products for new orders instead of its legacy copper products. Having carefully assessed the range of evidence available—including responses to public consultation—Ofcom has decided not to prevent Equinox 2 from being introduced.