Government proposes legislative amendments to introduce the Galileo public regulated service and to increase the information society fee

The Government proposes amendments to the Act on Electronic Communication Services and the Act on the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency. The Government submitted the legislative proposal to Parliament on 19 September 2022.

The Government aims to make the necessary legislative amendments for the national-level introduction of the public regulated service (PRS) of the European Galileo satellite navigation system in Finland in 2025.

In the EU Member States, the Galileo PRS provides nationally authorised public administration users and the operators involved in society's critical infrastructure with continuous location and time data that is technically and operationally secure. In Finland, such users will include the police, the Finnish Border Guard, the Customs, rescue services, the Defence Forces and the energy, telecommunications, banking and transport and logistics sectors. The service will ensure that society's vital functions that depend on time and location data will continue without disruptions in all circumstances.

The acts would lay down provisions on the authority responsible for the Galileo PRS and its tasks, the provision and use of the service, and the manufacturing and export control of the technology related to the service. Suomen Erillisverkot Group would be given the right to act as a provider of the Galileo PRS. The Defence Forces could provide an equivalent service for the needs of national defence.

The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency would be given more extensive powers to conduct inspections of the satellite service provider, users and technology manufacturers as well as of the Defence Forces when they provide the service to meet national defence needs.

Galileo is a global satellite navigation system of the European Union and the only satellite navigation system in the control of civilian authorities. Once completed, it would work in parallel with other systems, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) of the United States. The Galileo system is funded and controlled by the EU Member States. From the perspective of the EU Member States, even in crisis situations the use of the system does not involve any unpredictable uncertainties with respect to security or trade policy.

Proposal to increase the information society fee

The Government also proposes that the information society fee be increased. The Transport and Communications Agency is acquiring a location data service, in which information on the physical infrastructure of the existing networks and the locations of cables, pipes and similar active networks will be collected in the future.

The increase would cover the annual operating and maintenance costs incurred for the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency for the location data service.

Next steps?

A referral debate will be held on the proposal now submitted by the Government to Parliament. The timetable for the debate will be listed on Parliament's website (upcoming plenary sessions).

After the referral debate, the proposal will be sent to a parliamentary committee.

The committee will draft a report, which will then be discussed in a plenary session.

The proposed acts are expected to enter into force on 1 January 2023.

Inquiries:

Suvi Kankare, Senior Specialist (Galileo PRS), tel. +358 295 342 105, [email protected]

Pirjo Karttunen, Senior Officer (information society fee), tel. +358 295 342 605, [email protected]