Authored by Alexandre de Streel, CERRE Academic Director.
Brussels wants the Digital Networks Act (DNA) to transform Europe’s telecoms sector: a stronger Single Market, more investment, faster fibre deployment and an open Internet. These are worthwhile ambitions. In a new report, CERRE challenges some of the assumptions behind the current debate and examines four areas where the DNA could do better.
A Single Market is a means, not an end. Common rules can reduce unnecessary barriers, but they will not automatically generate economies of scale or trigger more network investment. Fixed – and to some extent mobile – telecoms infrastructure remains largely local. Reforms should address demonstrable barriers to cross-border activity, but since regulation also needs to be adapted to local conditions, law-makers should not pursue harmonisation as an objective in itself.
Regulate bottlenecks, not markets. Access regulation remains essential where competition cannot deliver. But obligations should be based on clear economic evidence that persistent bottlenecks, which are often local, justify intervention. This does not necessarily require regulation based on markets or market players.
Accelerate fibre without forcing the transition. Copper switch-off can support modernisation, but mandatory deadlines alone do not guarantee fibre take-up. Migration must reflect actual coverage, affordability and available alternatives, with safeguards for consumers and flexibility where deployment is not economically viable.
Protect the open internet while enabling innovation. Net neutrality remains fundamental, but protecting openness does not require treating every form of network differentiation as harmful. Clear safeguards should prevent blocking and unfair discrimination while allowing innovative services that preserve consumer choice.
Besides those issues, from the past and the present, telecoms policy should also address with much more ambition the issues of tomorrow, in particular the development of satellite connectivity, resilience and strategic autonomy. At CERRE, we will prioritise them as they will define our future.
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