Our country was represented at the IRG_BEREC meeting by the President of the Information Technologies and Communication Authority, Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu, and his accompanying delegation.
In order to act within a common framework regarding the implementation of the European Union’s (EU) electronic communications legislation and, at the same time, to compare national legislations and Union legislation in line with changes and developments in the sector, the General Assembly meetings of BEREC (Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications) and IRG (Independent Regulators Group) were held on 5-6 March 2020 in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, where regulatory authorities in the electronic communications field from European countries gathered with the European Commission.
Our institution was represented by a delegation headed by our Authority President Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu at the General Assembly meetings, which were the 42nd meeting of BEREC, where our country holds observer status, and the first meeting of IRG in 2020, of which we are a member, bringing together the presidents of national regulatory authorities from EU member states as well as EFTA (European Free Trade Area) countries and EU candidate countries.
At the IRG General Assembly held on the first day of the meeting, BTK President Karagözoğlu took the floor and shared his views and evaluations regarding IRG's financial situation, financial planning for 2021-2025, and the activities to be carried out in 2020.
At the BEREC General Assembly, where Europe's agenda in this field was discussed in light of the EU's regulations and perspective on the electronic communications sector, reports prepared by BEREC expert working groups on topics such as interconnection, 5G, end-users, roaming, communications services within the EU, geographic surveys and network deployment, open internet, management of numbering resources, and "Very High Capacity Networks-VHCNs" were discussed, and the prepared Guidelines (BEREC Guidelines) were introduced. Additionally, evaluations were made regarding BEREC's 2021 work plan and strategy.
During the meeting, a discussion was held on the contributions that BEREC and regulatory authorities could provide and the roles they could undertake within the scope of the Digital Services Act (DSA), whose work is ongoing by the Commission. During the discussions, which also addressed the communication titled "Europe's Digital Future" announced by the Commission on 19 February 2020, outlining the European approach and strategies for digital sectors and services, BTK President Karagözoğlu shared his evaluations and stated that digital markets must be subject to appropriate competition rules and effective supervision in order to make the best use of the opportunities offered by the digital economy. President Karagözoğlu noted that without establishing competition, some large platforms could reach a dominant market position, which would hinder both consumer welfare and the entry of new players into the market, and emphasized that proactive regulations are of critical importance to ensure market fairness in this context.
On the second day of the meeting, under the agenda item on experience sharing regarding strategically important topics for the BEREC General Assembly, a presentation was made by the President of the Austrian Authority RTR on the 5G auction to be held in the country in the 700/1500/2100 MHz bands, and experiences were shared with the participants.
During the meetings, BTK President Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu held contacts with his European counterparts and made evaluations on current issues. BTK President Karagözoğlu also met with Ambassador Tanju Bilgiç in Belgrade.