The EU Digital Networks Act unpacked

EU Digital Networks Act unpacked. One rulebook for telecoms?

The Commission’s plan to replace the EECC with a single, binding EU telecoms framework

The European Commission has published its proposal for a Digital Networks Act (DNA), signalling the most significant reform of EU telecoms regulation in over a decade. Released on 21 January 2026, the proposal would repeal and replace the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC) with a directly applicable Regulation. The stated aim is to reduce regulatory fragmentation, simplify compliance for operators and create a more investment-friendly framework for digital connectivity across the EU.

For telecoms providers, infrastructure operators and investors, the DNA is first and foremost a regulatory reform. It goes to the heart of how electronic communications networks and services are authorised, regulated and supervised in the EU.

Why the Digital Networks Act matters for telecoms regulation

The Commission’s starting point is that the current regulatory framework no longer delivers a genuinely single market for telecoms. Although the EECC was designed to modernise EU telecoms law, its implementation through national legislation has led to divergent rules, inconsistent regulatory practice and significant administrative overhead for operators active in more than one Member State.

From a regulatory perspective, this fragmentation affects core issues such as authorisation and notification, access obligations, regulatory remedies and the scope of national discretion. The DNA reflects a broader EU policy shift away from minimum-harmonisation directives and towards directly applicable regulations, with the explicit intention of constraining national divergence in telecoms regulation.

The proposal is also closely tied to wider policy objectives, including the EU’s Digital Decade targets, large-scale fibre and 5G deployment, and the increasing importance of cross-border and non-terrestrial networks.

From directive to regulation: the end of the EECC

The most important legal change is structural. The Digital Networks Act would repeal the EECC in its entirety and replace it with a Regulation. This would fundamentally alter the way EU telecoms law applies in practice.

Instead of being transposed into national law, the core regulatory rules governing electronic communications networks and services would apply directly and uniformly across all Member States. This includes rules on general authorisation, regulatory obligations, access and interconnection, consumer protection and regulatory oversight.

For national regulators, this represents a clear recalibration of regulatory autonomy. While enforcement remains largely national, the scope for divergent implementation and interpretation would be significantly reduced.

A single EU authorisation and notification regime

A central operational feature of the DNA is the introduction of a single EU notification regime for telecoms providers. Providers of public electronic communications networks and services would be able to submit one notification in a single Member State to operate across the EU, rather than making parallel notifications to each national regulator.

BEREC would develop a harmonised notification template, and Member States would be prevented from imposing additional notification or administrative requirements. This directly targets one of the long-standing practical burdens of the current regime.

While the scope of the general authorisation regime remains broadly aligned with the EECC, the proposal explicitly integrates compliance with EU-level cybersecurity obligations into the authorisation framework.

Satellite and non-terrestrial networks

From a regulatory classification perspective, the DNA contains a notable development: a dedicated EU-level authorisation regime for satellite connectivity services.

This reflects the Commission’s view that the existing telecoms framework, built primarily around national, terrestrial networks, is no longer well suited to satellite and hybrid network models. The proposal is intended to facilitate cross-border provision and regulatory consistency for satellite operators, including emerging direct-to-device services.

Access, interconnection and regulatory remedies

The Digital Networks Act also revisits the access and interconnection regime, an area at the core of telecoms regulation. While the familiar competition-based framework is retained, the proposal places greater emphasis on commercial negotiation, co-investment models and risk-sharing arrangements, particularly for very high-capacity networks.

National regulatory authorities would continue to impose access obligations where justified, but within a more prescriptive EU framework. The clear policy intent is to narrow divergence in remedies and market analysis outcomes across Member States, while recalibrating regulation to support long-term infrastructure investment.

Consumer protection within a harmonised framework

End-user protection remains an integral part of telecoms regulation under the DNA. The proposal consolidates and simplifies existing rules on transparency, contract terms and switching, updating them to reflect digital-first services and bundled offerings.

From a regulatory perspective, the focus is on maintaining substantive protection while reducing complexity and scope for inconsistent national interpretation.

Regulatory governance and BEREC

The DNA strengthens the role of BEREC in promoting consistent regulatory outcomes across the EU. This includes a greater role in developing binding templates and supporting coordination between national regulators.

National regulatory authorities retain responsibility for supervision and enforcement, but the governance model is more centralised than under the EECC, reflecting the Commission’s objective of a more integrated regulatory framework for telecoms.

Impact assessment and next steps

The Commission has published a detailed impact assessment alongside the proposal, analysing policy options and expected effects on competition, investment and regulatory efficiency. The preferred option is a full replacement of the EECC with a Regulation combined with enhanced EU-level coordination.

The proposal will now progress through the ordinary legislative procedure. Amendments should be expected during scrutiny by the European Parliament and the Council, particularly around the balance between EU harmonisation and national regulatory discretion.

Increasing EU divergence from the UK

The Digital Networks Act would also widen the regulatory gap between the EU and the UK. Since Brexit, UK telecoms regulation has remained structurally anchored in the European Electronic Communications Code as retained and amended in domestic law, with Ofcom exercising a relatively high degree of national discretion.

By contrast, the DNA represents a decisive move towards a centralised and directly applicable EU telecoms rulebook, with tighter constraints on national implementation and a strengthened coordinating role for BEREC. If adopted, this would leave the UK operating a directive-based, nationally mediated framework alongside an EU regime built around a single regulation.

For operators active in both markets, this divergence is unlikely to be merely theoretical. Differences in authorisation, regulatory remedies, access obligations and governance structures will increasingly need to be managed in parallel. From a regulatory strategy perspective, the DNA underlines that UK and EU telecoms regulation are now on clearly separate trajectories, even where substantive policy objectives continue to overlap.

This divergence will sharpen the importance of understanding how Ofcom’s evolving strategic approach to competition, investment and network regulation differs from the more centralised, EU-level model emerging under the Digital Networks Act.

Conclusion

From a telecoms regulation perspective, the Digital Networks Act is a decisive move away from nationally mediated EU telecoms law towards a single, directly applicable regulatory framework. If adopted broadly in its current form, it would materially change how telecoms providers are authorised, regulated and supervised across the EU, with reduced national divergence and a stronger emphasis on regulatory consistency and investment support.