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The digital revolution/ Balluku reveals the details of the draft law on electronic communications

2024-05-30 18:19:00, Aktualitet CNA

The digital revolution/ Balluku reveals the details of the draft law on

The government's number two, Belinda Balluku, has revealed more details of the draft law on electronic communications.

In her speech to the Assembly, Balluku emphasized that we are in a time of deep, rapid changes in a critical sector which has to do with electronic communications, the development of digital technologies, applications, machine-to-machine communications, or new services. which today enable digital infrastructures and electronic communication tools as one of the basic requirements of all sectors.

The draft law "On electronic communications in the Republic of Albania" comes precisely as a necessity to reflect these rapid technological developments and to respond better to the needs of the time and to have a strong legal framework which will also have stability in time.

According to Balluk, this draft law aims to increase the standards in an important sector such as the telecommunications sector, bringing them closer to the standards of the European Union.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that the main goal is to review and improve the general regulatory framework for electronic communications, defined in the 2008 law, in order to encourage investments in electronic communications networks with very high capacities, both those with optical fiber and wireless ones, 5G networks.

Belinda Balluk's speech in the Assembly

We live in the time of what is considered the digital revolution. A time of deep, rapid changes in a critical sector which is related to electronic communications, developments in digital technologies, applications, machine-to-machine communications, or new services, which today enable digital infrastructures and electronic communication tools such as one of the basic requirements of all sectors.

And of course, the only way to move forward at this time is to adapt the national legislative framework, aligning it with European directives and standards.

It is a draft law that comes today to the Assembly through the transposition of the 2018/1972 Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council, known as the European Electronic Communications Code, which aims to raise standards in an important sector such as the telecommunications sector by brought them closer to the standards of the European Union.

The main goal is to review and improve the general regulatory framework for electronic communications, defined in the 2008 law, in order to encourage investment in electronic communications networks with very high capacities, both fiber optic and wireless. 5G networks.

The draft law completely revises the regulations in force, in relation to the frequency spectrum, the response of services and their universal regime, the rules for consumer protection, numbering and communications in case of emergencies, and certainly enriches the rules for access, interconnection and market regulation of telecommunications as a whole, based on the best practices of the European Union.

The general authorization regime, defined in the 2008 law, marked at that time a deep and innovative reform regarding the opening of the electronic communications market as it facilitated market entry and created the conditions for its full liberalization. This regime is also preserved in the new draft law, to guarantee continuity and legal certainty.

Maintaining the continuity of the main regulations, as a legal guarantee for all those entrepreneurs operating in the market for the provision of electronic communications networks and services, the draft law brings several very important innovations.

First, it establishes as a general political objective the construction of networks with very high capacities, which constitutes an innovation in the new legal and regulatory framework for electronic communications.

Electronic communications networks with very high capacities are a need and necessity for all expected developments for the digital economy and in important sectors such as transport, energy, smart developments/smart cities, public services, health, etc., to guarantee us fast, secure communications, in large volumes of data, but of course also in real time.

The draft law underlines the implementation of policies for the promotion of freedom of expression and information, the promotion of cultural, linguistic and media diversity in the development of electronic communications networks.

Also, the draft law increases the financial and operational independence of the AKEP regulatory body, aiming to strengthen its positions on the eve of the expected rather large developments in terms of electronic communications.

In the new regulations related to the expected developments, there is a provision for conducting a geographic survey for networks with very high capacities, broadband. The carrying out of geographic surveys is expected to be carried out by AKEP, in cooperation with the ministry and other related institutions as appropriate within three years from the entry into force of this law and is closely related to future developments for achieving the objectives for a gigabit society. This is a process that will be carried out periodically and constitutes an innovation in the regulation of the electronic communications sector.

What is very important and what should be mentioned and I want to emphasize is that the draft law foresees provisions for strengthening the security of electronic communications networks in particular. Several measures are foreseen to guarantee the security of providers, equipment suppliers of 5G networks and next generation networks. As you all know, Albania has already engaged with the US State Department to be one of the markets with systems and definitely with clean suppliers in terms of 5G networks.

In relation to the access to the radio frequency spectrum, an increase in the duration of the rights of use is foreseen for frequencies that require harmonized use. The draft law also provides rules for the transfer or leasing of individual rights to use the spectrum. Rules are also provided for regulating access for local networks in small areas, guaranteeing compliance with standards. In relation to access and interconnection, the powers and responsibilities of the AKEP regulatory body are foreseen, for ensuring access and interconnection, and towards subjects not providing electronic communications services, when this is necessary, for ensuring the end-to-end connection of the network , and for ensuring the interoperability of services. Regarding universal service obligations, in contrast to the legal and regulatory framework that we have in force, that is, the one from 2008, regarding universal service obligations, we have several innovations, in particular regarding the requirements for providing broadband access. Also, open internet regulations aim at access to a safe and open internet, transparency for ensuring access to the open internet, supervision and implementation of legal requirements, as well as required information and contracts.

I don't want to go any further as it is a technical issue and of course it is a very important issue, which has received the approval of all the committees that have had this task, but I want to say that this is a very technical bill, which is drafted with full diligence by our experts, i.e. from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, whom I take the opportunity to thank for more than two years of work on this act, of course with the support of all commissioners and all experts of AKEP and of course this it is a law that has been consulted and agreed with all other members and main stakeholders, as in this case it is the European Commission.

With this draft law, we have tried to bring all the best experience of the European Union states harmonized with the needs and specifics of our country and market in the conditions of a very rapid development of technology, digitization and electronic communications. Without forgetting that the Albanian Government has more than 99% of services, for all citizens, digital and online. Undoubtedly, this is a good example which has been followed by the whole market and today Albania can be considered as one of the most digitized countries in terms of services

For all of the above, I invite all MPs to vote for this draft law, paving the way for a more modern law for the electronic telecommunications sector, the implementation of European Union standards and further development in the field of digitization and undoubtedly digital transformation as a integral part of the processes for the economic development of the country./ CNA