Anatel's president says agency is fit to regulate digital platforms

This is a machine translation of a Anatel's press release

The president of the National Telecommunications Agency, Carlos Baigorri, said today (5/18), during the Seminar New Regulatory Challenges of the Digital Ecosystem, promoted by the University of Brasília, that Anatel has the capacity and institutional maturity to guarantee the effectiveness of whatever comes to be approved in Bill 2630 on the regulation of digital platforms. “When we think about the digital ecosystem, we are already in practically all the links in the chain”, said Baigorri.

He pointed out that Anatel is already present in the regulation of the passive structure, equipment, network, telecommunications services and value-added service providers. According to Baigorri, regulating issues that are being discussed in Bill 2630 would be an increase in relation to the Agency's current competences. Bill 2630 institutes the Brazilian Law on Freedom, Responsibility and Transparency on the Internet

The president of Anatel recalled that the digital ecosystem begins with passive infrastructure (towers where antennas are installed and trenches in the ground where pipelines are placed, for example). This passive infrastructure is regulated by Anatel, through instruments such as the General Plan of Competition Goals (PGMC) and powers attributed to the Agency by the General Law of Antennas related to towers and telecommunications support infrastructure.

He added that, on top of the passive infrastructure, network equipment and equipment for end users of telecommunications services are aggregated. Equipment that is also regulated by the Agency, through the certification and approval process, in which criteria such as physical security and cybernetic security are evaluated.

“Once you put all this equipment together, you have a series of protocols to make them work, creating a network. And then Anatel also regulates the operation of networks, traffic routing, numbering, identification of network elements”, he recalled.

He mentioned that, when the network is in operation, there is the provision of the telecommunications service, which is also regulated by Anatel. “We have the General Regulation of Consumer Rights, the General Regulation of Accessibility, several regulations that deal with the consumption relationship”, he exemplified.

Baigorri informed that another regulatory frontier was recently inaugurated in the digital ecosystem, related to the user's relationship with the network and services, an issue that arose from a factual issue: abusive telemarketing.

He explained that Anatel was able to address the issue of abusive telemarketing through the General Telecommunications Law (art. 4, inc. I), which determines the user's duty to use telecommunications networks, services and equipment in an adequate manner. . Based on this understanding, on a precautionary basis, measures were taken to curb the inappropriate use of networks and services by telemarketing companies.

“When we think about these large digital platforms, that is, internet applications, from the perspective and conformation of the General Telecommunications Law, these are not telecommunications companies. They are providers of a value-added service, pursuant to art. 61. And under the terms of the first paragraph of this same article, the value-added service provider is equal, in rights and duties, to the telecommunications user”, he explained.

Baigorri also recalled that a public grant of subsidies was opened to discuss the evaluation regarding specific rules for large users of telecommunications services, the first step with a view to eventual regulation of the matter by Anatel.