Equality and growth the telecommunications market in Italy: this is the objective of Assoprovider's battle for the reduction of ministerial contributions for licensed frequency usage. A battle that indeed concerns small and medium-sized telecommunications operators, burdened by the prohibitive costs of frequencies, but in reality, it interests all Italian citizenscutting these contributions would indeed lead to market growth, to more opportunities for work in a severe time of crisis, to the reduction of digital divide, thanks to the increase in available bandwidth on the backbones of Internet providers, and a faster connection, to support remote learning and smart working.

Our battle

Assoprovider is at the forefront of cutting the prohibitive cost of licensed frequencies for the Internet Service Provider, which causes a market distortion to the detriment of small and medium-sized telecommunications enterprises, also affecting the service to citizens.

But how high, exactly, are the costs for licensed frequencies in Italy?

This was explained by Dino Bortolotto, president of Assoprovider:

"The cost of point-to-point frequencies causes a market distortion. The quantity discount mechanism, whereby the more customers an operator has, the greater the discount on frequencies, causes" a 400% difference between the administrative contribution paid by a small operator and that paid by a large user of the exact same public asset."

To make a comparison, let's consider that in our country, administrative contributions are the highest in Europe, reaching up to 10 times more compared to other nations. 

All this despite the fact that we are not talking about scarce resources: in Italy, indeed, licensed point-to-point frequencies used represent less than 2 percent of the total availability. 

Assoprovider has already carried out several concrete actions to reduce this unfair state of affairs. The first move, a letter to the Minister of Economic Development, Stefano Patuanelli, last October, in which the association of independent providers requested to extend the 75 percent discount planned for the use of point-to-point frequencies, also for operators with fewer than 50,000 users, thus favoring small and medium operators.

The second concrete step forward was the presentation of an amendment to the Budget Law, thanks to the support of Deputy Michele Gubitosa, to reduce the contribution for licensed frequencies for small operators. Specifically, the amendment provided for this distribution of frequency costs:

• 2 euros for each MHz in the frequency range above 14;
• 4 euros for each MHz in the frequency range between a value equal to or less than 14 GHz and a value equal to or greater than 10 GHz;
• 8 euros for each MHz in the frequency range between a value lower than 10 GHz and a value equal to 6 GHz;
• 16 euros for each MHz in the frequency range below 6 GHz.

Not just providers: here are the benefits for everyone

Assoprovider's battle over licensed frequencies benefits not only small and medium providers but all citizens. If the association were to succeed, we could achieve:

• Increase in connectivity FWA (Fixed Wireless Access) provided to millions of citizens;
• Higher quality of connection in the so-called "market failure areas," thus promoting DAD (Distance Learning) and smart working;
• Reduction of Digital Divide that blocks social mobility in certain areas of the country;

Protection of jobs of the sector, with the creation of new employment opportunities.

Europe asks us for it

Another focal point of Assoprovider's battle concerns the new rules introduced by Directive (EU) 2018/1972, which establishes the European Electronic Communications Code, which came into force on December 20, 2018. 

The Directive provides, in Article 16, "the power to do not apply administrative rights to companies whose turnover is below a certain threshold or whose activities do not reach a minimum market share or have a very limited territorial scope. In essence, Europe is aware of the importance of small and medium-sized providers, especially for "market failure" areas, and therefore suggests for them, the elimination of administrative contributions. An address that clashes with the current Italian situation where, as mentioned, small and medium operators are forced to pay 400% more than large operators.

Furthermore, the requested amounts would be unjustified. The new code, in fact, specifies that administrative rights may cover “only the administrative costs incurred for the management, control, and enforcement of the general authorization system, rights of use, and specific obligations. Finally, such contributions are imposed on individual enterprises in an objective, transparent, and proportionate manner, which minimize additional administrative costs and the associated charges.

The directive was to be transposed by Member States by December 21, 2020. In Italy, the process was carried out through the European delegation law, approved with amendments by the Senate in October, and then transmitted to the Chamber where it was approved on November 2. The bill was finally assigned to the XIV EU Policies Commission in a Referent session, which began the joint examination of the provisions on November 11, 2020.