Italy

[IT] AGCOM Finalises Text on Television 2.0 Convergence

IRIS 2015-4:1/15

Ernesto Apa & Daniel Giuliano

Portolano Cavallo Studio Legale

On 13 January 2015, the Italian Communications Authority - AGCOM (Autorità per le garanzie nelle comunicazioni) approved, by Resolution no. 19/15/CONS, the final text of the investigation related to the drafting of a White Paper on “Television 2.0 in the Age of Convergence”.

The investigation was launched by AGCOM by means of Resolution no. 93/13/CONS of 6 February 2013, with the aim at carrying out an in-depth analysis of the general issues related to new television services through IP protocol in the electronic communications sector.

According to AGCOM, there were three main points to be investigated: distribution and technology aspects, market aspects and regulatory aspects. As for the distribution and technology aspects, the Authority reports that the number of people who have a smart TV is gradually increasing (in Italy, for 2013, such numbers reached 17% of the population). With reference to the regulatory aspects, AGCOM focuses in particular on: (i) issues related to prominence, recalling for such purposes the definition of prominence proposed by the European Commission (COM(2013) 231, see IRIS 2013-6/5), and on (ii) data protection and IT security issues, remarking on the risks of break-in, unlawful access to personal data and abusive activation of cameras associated with the use of smart TVs.

In light of the results of the foregoing investigation, AGCOM pointed out that it will be required: (a) to verify the correspondence between the current national and European regulatory framework and the dynamics of a market which changes constantly and (b) to understand, from a regulatory perspective, how to manage the current technological trends and innovations. With reference to the first point, AGCOM highlights that the main issues regard the regulatory asymmetry between TV broadcasters and Over-The-Top services. With reference to the second point, AGCOM underlines that the development of proprietary interfaces by manufacturers requires the analysis of certain potential issues related to middleware, user interface and users’ guides.