Act on Electronic Communications Services to be amended

The President of the Republic approved amendments to the Act on Electronic Communications Services on 13 June 2024. The amendments concern two acts but in practice affect the validity of certain provisions of the Act on Electronic Communications Services. The amendments will enter into force before the validity period of the current provisions expires at the end of June and in the beginning of July 2024.

The provisions of the Act on Electronic Communications Services concerning the confidentiality of radio communications and partial prohibition of telemarketing to mobile phone subscriptions will be amended to remain in force until further notice.

The aim of the amendments is to retain the possibility for statistical processing of traffic data in such a way that the protection of privacy and personal data and of the secrecy of confidential communications are not compromised. At the same time, the aim is to protect consumers against market disturbances related to telemarketing in connection with new mobile phone subscriptions or operator changes.

In addition, the supervision of compliance with the Regulation on roaming on public mobile communications networks within the Union (Roaming Regulation) and Regulation laying down measures concerning open internet access and retail charges for regulated intra-EU communications will temporarily be included in the tasks of the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom. 

Next steps

The legislative amendments will enter into force at the end of June and in the beginning of July 2024. The provision on the supervision duties of the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom will remain in force until 30 June 2032.

The government proposal on the amendments was circulated for comments from 21 February to 15 March 2024. Comments were requested on a broader proposal. For the subsequent preparatory work this was divided into two separate proposals to streamline and facilitate the consideration by Parliament. This first proposal contains the proposed amendments with the tightest schedule. The second amendment proposal concerning the same act will be submitted for approval later in summer 2024.

Inquiries:

Hanna Laurila, Senior Ministerial Adviser, [email protected], tel. +358 295 342 025