Other noteworthy regulatory developments week ending 14 May 2021 from the Assembly Analyst team
The Swedish regulator, the PTS, has opened a public consultation on the award of local 5G licences to enable applications in mines, ports, warehouses, and hospitals. For these purposes, the PTS is reserving the 3720–3800MHz range, and the 24.25–25.1GHz range. The PTS will seek input from stakeholders until 15 June 2021, after which it will determine the terms of the licences and the procedure to apply. The regulator aims to start allocating permits this year.
The European Commission will open an investigation into Facebook’s acquisition of Kustomer, a startup producing chatbots for customer service uses. The merger was registered in Austria and notified to the national competition authority, but was not large enough to meet the European threshold to trigger an EC investigation. Following requests from 10 national authorities, the EC has now agreed to examine it. The EC is concerned about the possible effects of the transaction on the markets for CRM software and online display advertising services, and notes it is best placed to examine its potential cross-border impact.
In Spain, the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) fined Microsoft for failing to notify Skype Out (which allows Skype users to call fixed and mobile numbers), as an electronic communications service. It is a small fine (€7200) since Microsoft admitted its responsibility and rectified the situation quickly. The CNMC notes that Microsoft had notified other services, but not Skype Out.
