189 lines
8.2 KiB
HTML
189 lines
8.2 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
|
||
<html newsdate="2023-03-13">
|
||
<version>1</version>
|
||
|
||
<head>
|
||
<title>Greece adopts news rules on Router Freedom</title>
|
||
</head>
|
||
|
||
<body>
|
||
|
||
<h1> Greece adopts new rules on Router Freedom</h1>
|
||
|
||
<p>The Greek regulator has adopted new rules introducing Router Freedom
|
||
in the country. Since 2021, the FSFE has been working with policymakers
|
||
to protect the interests of end-users. Supporting civil society and
|
||
industry organisations backed the FSFE and contributed positively to
|
||
this new law.</p>
|
||
|
||
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<a href="https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/router-freedom-tracker_581123#4/53.12/18.37">
|
||
<img src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/big/07dc0f987728eae33777eebd53e6cc0e.png" alt="Router Freedom Monitoring Map"/>
|
||
</a>
|
||
<figcaption>Greece is in the list of countries regulating Router Freedom. Check here the status of your country</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
|
||
|
||
<p>Routers and modems are gateways to the Internet. As with any other
|
||
<a
|
||
href="/activities/deviceneutrality/#general-purpose-computer-free-software">digital
|
||
devices</a>, consumers should be able to choose such an important
|
||
piece of equipment. In order to make this right happen,
|
||
telecommunications law in the EU has been passing through complex
|
||
legislative reforms since 2018. The process has been <a
|
||
href="/news/2020/news-20200601-01">slow and marked by
|
||
nuances</a>. <a
|
||
href="https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/router-freedom-monitoring-tool_581123">Not
|
||
all EU countries</a> have taken Router Freedom as a priority.
|
||
Greece, on the other hand, has been working on the issue for several
|
||
years and is now among the European countries regulating how
|
||
end-users can use their own routers and modems to connect to the
|
||
Internet.</p>
|
||
|
||
<h2>Two years of engagement and a lot of teamwork</h2>
|
||
|
||
<p>At the end of 2020, the Greek telecom regulator (Hellenic
|
||
Telecommunications and Post Commission - EETT) started the reform of
|
||
the telecommunications law and launched the process to set new
|
||
standards for Router Freedom. In April 2021, the FSFE <a
|
||
href="/news/2021/news-20210505-01">coordinated an
|
||
alliance</a> with several civil society organisations and industry
|
||
representatives to provide input to EETT’s public consultation on the
|
||
new regulation. At that time, we backed the regulator’s preliminary
|
||
conclusion that Router Freedom would be fully compatible with Greek
|
||
legislation, and would not cause market restrictions or
|
||
interoperability issues.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>In April 2022, EETT published the first draft
|
||
of the regulation. However, in the proposal, the regulator <a
|
||
href="/news/2022/news-20220628-01">excluded
|
||
fiber connections (FTTH)</a>, a decision that has the potential to
|
||
negatively impact end-user rights. The FSFE submitted a
|
||
comprehensive analysis on why Router Freedom should encompass fiber and
|
||
why it is essential to strike a balance between the rights of ISPs and
|
||
those of end-users. FSFE’s arguments were supported by the same
|
||
alliance of organisations and group of volunteers. </p>
|
||
|
||
<p>In March 2023, EETT adopted the final version of the
|
||
regulation (<a
|
||
href="https://www.eett.gr/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/AP1058-011-020.pdf">EL</a>)
|
||
regulating Router Freedom in the country. The new rule confirms the
|
||
freedom of terminal equipment for all network topologies other than
|
||
fiber. The regulator has taken a stricter approach for FTTH and decided
|
||
to keep the optical network equipment (ONT) within the domain of the
|
||
ISPs. Although the regulator allows end-users to require a separation
|
||
of the ONT and routers, this restricts users from plugging their fiber router
|
||
directly into the network.</p>
|
||
|
||
|
||
<h2>The future: room for improvement and pushing against violations</h2>
|
||
<p>We acknowledge the efforts the Greek regulator has put over the last few
|
||
years in the regulatory process. The national regulatory agency has involved different
|
||
stakeholders and communicated well with them. These are good practices
|
||
for a transparent and inclusive process for norm setting.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>We regret, however, that EETT has decided to exclude fiber networks as a default
|
||
for Router Freedom. Although the regulator allows end-users to separate
|
||
the router from the ONT, other European countries, such as <a
|
||
href="/news/2021/news-20210629-01">Finland</a>,
|
||
<a href="/news/2021/news-20210805-01">the Netherlands</a>,
|
||
and most probably <a href="/news/2022/news-20221215-01">Belgium</a>, have set higher standards by
|
||
allowing consumers to plug the fiber router directly to the public
|
||
network.</p>
|
||
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img
|
||
src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/big/48324e598fb3d81f1b72e387d1cc459f.png"
|
||
alt="Picture with types of soft and hard violations by ISPs." />
|
||
<figcaption>Even with Router Freedom established in the legislation, ISPs can still violate the rules.</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
|
||
<p>Notwithstanding this compromise, Greek consumers are better
|
||
served by a clear framework for Router Freedom. Legal uncertainty plays
|
||
against consumers, who now have clear rules to demand their rights from
|
||
ISPs. </p>
|
||
|
||
<p>We encourage the regulator to make the new rules effective. More
|
||
than only a technical issue, freedom of terminal equipment represents a
|
||
policy demand and requires constant monitoring of ISPs’ commercial
|
||
practices. Even in countries with clear-cut rules, ISPs can still
|
||
violate them, especially when:</p>
|
||
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li>
|
||
Customers are contractually prohibited from using their equipment or
|
||
ISPs impose disproportional disadvantages upon users with private routers;
|
||
</li>
|
||
<li>
|
||
ISPs do not inform customers of their rights regarding terminal
|
||
equipment or manipulate users through their customer service in favour
|
||
of the ISP’s routers;
|
||
</li>
|
||
<li>
|
||
ISPs advertise their routers as the only ones compatible with the
|
||
network, or use non-standard plugs or proprietary protocols;
|
||
</li>
|
||
<li>ISPs do not provide users the login data to the public network or make no support available to customers. </li>
|
||
<li>
|
||
ISPs do not offer the same level of service (e.g. IPv6, bandwidth, etc)
|
||
for customers using their own router.
|
||
</li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
|
||
|
||
<h2>Community work paid off</h2>
|
||
<p>FSFE’s work has been empowered by an amazing network of supporters, volunteers, and partner organisations.
|
||
We would like to thank the Free Software organisations <a href="https://gfoss.eu/">GFOSS</a> and
|
||
<a href="https://www.greeklug.gr/el/">GreekLUG</a>, the digital rights
|
||
group <a href="https://www.homodigitalis.gr/">Homo Digitalis</a>, the
|
||
network
|
||
association <a href="https://www.sarantaporo.gr/">Sarantoporo.gr</a>,
|
||
the Greek consumer organisations <a
|
||
href="http://www.kepka.org/">KEPKA</a> and
|
||
<a href="https://ekpizo.gr/">EKPIZO</a>, the industry representative
|
||
<a href="https://vtke.eu/">VTKE</a>, and all our <a
|
||
href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Greece">Greek volunteers</a>
|
||
for their commitment and engagement in these years for making a change
|
||
in favour of end-users in Greece.</p>
|
||
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img
|
||
src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/44/29/2c6491a82b7267d5c2d3bea8775c.jpg"
|
||
alt="There is no Router Freedom without Free Software" />
|
||
<figcaption>There is no Router Freedom without Free Software. You are
|
||
invited to join our volunteer groups and support software freedom!</figcaption>
|
||
|
||
</figure>
|
||
|
||
|
||
<h2>Router Freedom and Device Neutrality</h2>
|
||
|
||
<p><a href="/activities/routers/routers">Router Freedom</a> is the
|
||
right of consumers of any Internet Service Provider to choose
|
||
and use
|
||
a private modem and router instead of equipment provided by the ISP.
|
||
<a href="/activities/deviceneutrality/index">Device Neutrality</a>
|
||
protects end-users against discriminatory
|
||
restrictions on Free Software on their devices. With Router Freedom,
|
||
end-users can install a customized operating system on their equipment
|
||
and exercise control over the technology. <a href="/my.fsfe.org/donate">Please consider becoming a
|
||
FSFE donor</a>; you will help make possible our long-term commitment and
|
||
professional dedication to defending people’s rights to control
|
||
technology.</p>
|
||
|
||
</body>
|
||
|
||
<tags>
|
||
<tag key="front-page"/>
|
||
<tag key="routers">Router Freedom</tag>
|
||
<tag key="deviceneutrality">Device Neutrality</tag>
|
||
<tag key="gr">Greece</tag>
|
||
</tags>
|
||
|
||
<image url="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/original/82/fc/adc66b468aa1eebfdf4f5ae146b8.png" alt="Greece is now in the row of countries regulating Router
|
||
Freedom."/>
|
||
|
||
</html>
|
||
|