Highlights and Activities for Weeks 25 & 26

International Activities

1. BEREC Expert workshop on IP-Interconnection in cooperation with OECD: One of our technical specialists attended this workshop during which the current and future developments of the IP-Interconnection market were discussed  in the context of Net Neutrality.  The workshop was attended by representatives from the regulators and the network and content providers. 
2. Digital Agenda Assembly: Our eCommerce specialist attended one of the eight workshops forming part of the Digital Agenda Assembly programme. During the workshop on eCommerce a number of exiting barriers to eCommerce were identified in view of the action plan to promote eCommerce in Europe. This action plan was adopted by the European Commission in January this year. The two main barriers identified and discussed during this workshop were consumer trust and payments. Different aspects of consumer trust were addressed, such as consumer rights, information and redress, with a particular focus on trust-marks. During this workshop, the findings resulting from a study about the provision of trust-marks in Europe were presented. In addition, a number of existing trust-mark organizations provided an overview of the trust-marks they manage in order to generate discussion about the role trust-marks play in boosting consumer confidence.  With regard to payments, the DG COMP provided some highlights resulting from the public consultation on the Green Paper for cards, electronic and mobile payments. The discussion focused on two main areas:

• consumers’ need for and acceptance of electronic and mobile payments.
• existing payment models versus alternative solutions  - mobile payment security versus card payment security.

3. Malta Digital Champion:  A few months ago, Commissioner Kroes asked all EU Leaders to appoint a national “digital champion” to spearhead the promotion of the benefits of an inclusive digital society.  Ing Philip Micallef, Executive Chairman of the Malta Communications Authority was nominated by Government as the digital champion for Malta. The first meeting was held on the 25th June and was attended by all champions appointed to date.  (see http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/digital-agenda/digitalchampions/index_en.htm) 

1. Communications market review July – December 2011: This publication gives an overview of the main trends and developments in Malta concerning electronic communications and post. The report sheet lists a number of indicators for the aforementioned areas, with data presented on a quarterly basis. (see http://www.mca.org.mt/article/communications-market-review-july-december-2011) 
2. Overview of contribution and legal intercept costs 2011: The MCA has published an overview of the total interception funds collected and the related expenditure incurred, during the period ended 31 December 2011. (see http://www.mca.org.mt/article/overview-contribution-and-legal-intercept-costs-2011) 

1. Digital Agenda Scoreboard: The Commission published the latest digital agenda scoreboard covering the period 2004 till 2012. This scoreboard includes country reports and charts with the aim of illustrating the progress of the policy actions and the key performance targets in the electronic communications sectors across Europe.  For information on progress registered in Malta see the following link http://www.mca.org.mt/article/malta-%E2%80%9Cone-top-eu-performers-fixed-broadband-penetration%E2%80%9D-eu-commission
2. MaltaPost publishes new schemes: MaltaPost has recently published a number of new schemes and related terms and conditions as well as the prices for redirection services. For more information access the following link. http://www.maltapost.com/schemes?l=1

1. Roaming tariffs campaign: During the last two weeks, the Authority embarked on a short online campaign to promote awareness on the new roaming Euro-tariffs that will be coming into force on Sunday 1st July. In addition, our End-user affairs officer participated in two radio programmes during peak hours to further promote the new tariffs and actions consumers should take to ensure that they benefit from the tariff plan that best suits their usage patterns.