Federal Network Agency

10/17/2023 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/17/2023 06:14

IIC Regulators’ Forum 2023

IIC Regulators' Forum 2023

Dr. Wilhelm Eschweiler: "Cooperation is imperative - not only among regulators, but with other authorities and industry as well in order to address the challenges we are all facing and to effectively empower consumers."

Year of issue2023
Date of issue2023.10.17

Together with the International Institute of Communications (IIC), the Bundesnetzagentur hosted this year's International Regulators' Forum (IRF) on 16 and 17 October.

Representatives of regulators from more than 40 countries from around the world were coming to Cologne to take part in the conference. "The discussion showed that cooperation among regulators and other authorities is essential in order to exchange views and learn from each other, as the challenges we are facing are similar," said Dr. Wilhelm Eschweiler, Vice President of the Bundesnetzagentur.

The event was exploring future regulatory structures and models in light of the technical developments, cybersecurity and network/supply chain resilience, 5G roll-out and space and satellite communications, consumer empowerment in a digital world, fixed broadband roll-out, and regulating digital platforms and intermediaries. The participants agreed that cooperation and collaboration is crucial in order to embrace the digitalisation of the economies and other technological developments. Collaboration is also necessary in the face of other challenges such as cybersecurity threats. At the same time, regulators agreed that they must keep on contributing to consumer empowerment, and to finding the right balance to allow innovation.

The International Regulators' Forum traditionally kicks off the annual IIC Communications Policy and Regulation Week. The Bundesnetzagentur was seeking to share information and experiences with international partners on current and upcoming opportunities in the electronic communications markets and their regulation in various fields. The focus of this year's discussions was on the future regulatory structures and models, in particular in relation to digitalisation, artificial intelligence, and satellite communication.

The IIC is an organisation including regulators in the field of electronic communications from all continents. It offers a platform for the exchange of information about regulatory practices between regulators from different global regions. The Bundesnetzagentur has been a member since 2021.