The rules would also reportedly make changes to how companies should treat customer data, including when they are changing to a different service.
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Telecoms companies have been complaining about the privileged status enjoyed by “over-the-top” (OTT) services such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook’s Messenger.
According to an internal European Commission document seen by Reuters, the EU executive wants to extend some of the rules to web companies offering calls and messages over the Internet.
“The Commission has been looking into the growing importance of online players that provide similar or equivalent services to traditional communication services”, said Nathalie Vandystadt, spokesperson for the Commission’s Digital Single Market.
European telecoms operators including Orange and Telefonica have long complained that OTT services from companies based outside the EU – in this case the US – have benefitted from looser regulations than mainstream telecoms service providers. The explosive growth of WhatsApp and apps of its ilk means that increasing numbers of people are using these text and voice services in place of traditional mobile phone communication methods, and mobile firms feel that it is only fair that the same rules be applied to these apps.
The Wall Street Journal reported that a draft version of the proposal would include requirements for the services that are closer to what regulators expect from standard messaging and phone services.
One of the European Union countries most opposed to introducing legislation for telecom apps and services has been the United Kingdom, but following the Brexit vote its influence over proceedings is likely to wane as time goes by and a leave date is confirmed. A central element of this has been to ask for more parity in how companies operating within the telecoms industry are regulated.
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An announcement on the new rules will be issued in September by the European Commission, with the full rules published later in the year. It will then spell them out in detail in a separate review of European Union “ePrivacy” law, which is slated for later this year, according to the FT.
