An amendment to the Telecommunications Act will allow the ACM to impose access obligations when there is a barrier to replicability.
Background: In March 2020, the Dutch regulator, the ACM lost an appeal against its wholesale broadband access market review of 2018, through which it imposed access obligations on KPN and VodafoneZiggo. Following the Business Tribunal’s decision, no operator currently faces access obligations in that market. In 2015, the same tribunal also annulled a decision of the ACM of 2012, removing some of the obligations imposed on KPN in the market for leased lines and high-quality wholesale broadband access.
New powers for the ACM: On 28 May 2020, the Lower House of the Dutch Parliament passed an amendment to the Telecommunications Act, which gives the ACM more powers to impose access obligations and adopts the provisions of the European Electronic Communications Code, which will come into effect at the end of 2020. The amendment will ensure the ACM can now require an operator to grant access to its network when there are barriers to replicability, regardless of the finding of dominance in a market review. The amendment excludes wholesale-only networks which operate under fair and non-discriminatory conditions, and requires the ACM to make sure such obligations do not hinder rollout in small, local deployments. The ACM must also review the obligation within five years of imposing it.
New rules on switching: Stronger safeguards for consumers and small businesses looking to switch providers were also passed. The law now includes measures against unwanted switching in the small business market, against discouraging a switch, for providing correct information to end users about the switching process, and for ensuring the continuity of services during a switch. Through the new measures, Parliament believes consumers will have an easier way to switch bundles.
