EU wants Skype and WhatsApp to comply with telecom rules

The European Union would take into account providers of communication services such as Skype and WhatsApp when drawing up new telecom rules. The aim of this is to make the competition with telecom providers fairer.

This is stated in a document from the European Commission on the internal digital market. The document has not been released, but has been viewed by Reuters. When reforming the telecom rules within the European Union, providers of alternative services will be taken into account. Skype and WhatsApp are examples of this. Cable providers are also included.

According to Reuters, the document prepared by the European Commission states that some services compete with telecom providers without having to adhere to the same rules. An example is that telecom providers must always offer the possibility to call the emergency number, while Skype and WhatsApp do not have to.

Alternative calling and communication services have quickly become popular in recent years. Skype and WhatsApp have hundreds of millions of users. By reforming the telecom rules, the telecom market should become more future-proof, according to the document that has been seen by Reuters.

Plans regarding the new telecom rules are expected to be announced on May 6. On the same day, a major investigation into the behavior of tech companies and search engines must be made public. That was also apparent from documents that Reuters has seen.