Access Alert: Anatel officially open a second Consultation on Fair Share in Brazil

The Brazilian telecommunications regulator, Anatel, has opened another round of consultations as part of the Fair Share debate in the Latin America region (our previous Access Alerts provide additional information regarding this matter – see here and here). The consultation is part of the regulatory agenda for 2024, as part of Item 6, and will be open until 15 April.

The consultation seeks to gather new inputs from industry and stakeholders to include them in the Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) that is required prior to any regulation being issued. Such a process involves at least 11 stages, each with unique complexities. In particular, the regulatory project began in February 2023 and is based on a revision of the general rules for providing telecommunication services, involving the regulation of user duties, which is included in the regulatory agenda for 2023-2024.

Within this context, the first consultation received 627 contributions from industry, civil society organisations, and academia, and it is likely that the second consultation will build from such contributions, adding more details over the possible avenues for such regulations, expected outcomes, and potential changes to be implemented.

Consequently, the next stage of the regulatory process involves a report on the RIA and a proposal for the regulation that the authorities seek to issue later this year. Previous messages from Anatel have highlighted the sense of potential imbalance between Internet service providers and Value-Added Services (Digital Platforms). As such, the regulation is expected to address concerns relating to these matters – although more details are still to be unveiled.

The effects on other stakeholders, including end-users, remain unclear. Access Partnership have recently published analysis regarding this matter here and here (Spanish).

Access Partnership is closely monitoring the development of this discussion in Brazil and Latin America. For more information on the subject and on how it may impact your organisation, please contact Paula Real at [email protected] or Geusseppe Gonzalez at [email protected].