See Full Document Text
Official Journal EN
of the European Union L series
2025/1754 21.8.2025
EFTA SURVEILLANCE AUTHORITY DECISIONNo 061/25/COL
of 9 April 2025
EFTA Surveillance Authority Recommendation on relevant product and service markets within the
electronic communications sector susceptible to ex anteregulation in accordance with the Act
referred to at point 5czs of Annex XI to the EEA Agreement (Directive (EU) 2018/1972 of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 establishing the European Electronic
Communications Code), as adapted by Protocol 1 to the EEA Agreement and by the sectoral
adaptations contained in Annex XI to that Agreement [2025/1754]
THE EFTA SURVEILLANCE AUTHORITY (‘THE AUTHORITY’),
Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area (‘EEA Agreement’)(1) and the Agreement between the
EFTA States on the Establishment of a Surveillance Authority and a Court of Justice (‘the Surveillance and Court
Agreement’)(2), and in particular Article 5(2)(b) of Part II of the Surveillance and Court Agreement,
Having regard to the Act referred to at point 5czs of Annex XI to the EEA Agreement, Directive (EU) 2018/1972 of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 establishing the European Electronic Communications Code (‘the
Code’)(3), as adapted by Protocol 1 to the EEA Agreement and by the sectoral adaptations contained in Annex XI to that
Agreement, and in particular Article 64(1) of the Code,
Having regard to the Authority’s Recommendation of 11 May 2016 on relevant markets within the electronic
communications sector susceptible to ex anteregulation (‘the Authority’s 2016 Recommendation’)(4),
WHEREAS:
(1) On 18 December 2020, the European Commission (‘the Commission’) issued Recommendation (EU) 2020/2245(5)
on relevant product and service markets within the electronic communications sector susceptible to ex ante
regulation in accordance with the Code (‘Recommendation (EU) 2020/2245’). The Body of European Regulators for
Electronic Communications was consulted by the Commission in accordance with Article 64(1) of the Code and
delivered an opinion on 16 October 2020.
(2) The objective of the EEA Agreement is to establish a dynamic and homogeneous European Economic Area (‘EEA’)
based on common rules and equal conditions of competition(6). In light of this objective and the considerations
above, the Authority adopts the present Recommendation (‘this Recommendation’) aligned with Recommendation
(EU) 2020/2245 in order to ensure a uniform application of the common regulatory framework and legal certainty
for stakeholders within the electronic communications markets in the EEA.
(3) The Code seeks, in addition to the three primary objectives of promoting competition, the internal market and end-
user interests, to promote connectivity and access to, and take-up of, very high capacity networks, including fixed,
mobile and wireless networks, for the benefit of all citizens and businesses of the EEA.
(1) OJ L 1, 3.1.1994, p. 3.
(2) OJ L 344, 31.12.1994, p. 1 and EEA Supplement No 59, 31.12.1994, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 321, 17.12.2018, p. 36.
(4) EFTA Surveillance Authority Recommendation of 11 May 2016 on relevant product and service markets within the electronic
communications sector susceptible to ex ante regulation in accordance with the Act referred to at point 5cl of Annex XI to the EEA
Agreement (Directive 2002/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on a common regulatory framework for electronic
communications networks and services), as adapted by Protocol 1 thereto and by the sectoral adaptations contained in Annex XI to that
Agreement (OJ L 84, 30.3.2017, p. 7 and EEA Supplement No 20, 30.3.2017, p. 1).
(5) Commission Recommendation (EU) 2020/2245 of 18 December 2020 on relevant product and service markets within the electronic
communications sector susceptible to ex ante regulation in accordance with Directive (EU) 2018/1972 of the European Parliament and
of the Council of 11 December 2018 establishing the European Electronic Communications Code (OJ L 439, 29.12.2020, p. 23).
(6) 4th recital in the Preamble to the EEA Agreement.
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(4) The appropriate incentives for investment in new, very high capacity networks, which support innovation in content-
rich internet services, will strengthen the international competitiveness of the EEA while delivering benefits to its
consumers and businesses. It is therefore crucial to promote sustainable investment in the development of very high
capacity networks by means of an appropriately adapted and predictable regulatory framework.
(5) One of the aims of the new regulatory framework is to progressively reduce ex ante sector-specific rules as
competition in the markets develops and, ultimately, to ensure that electronic communications markets are
governed only by competition law. In line with this objective, the purpose of this Recommendation is to identify
those product and service markets in which ex anteregulation may be justified.
(6) The definition of relevant markets may change over time as the characteristics of products and services available on
such markets evolve and the possibilities for demand and supply substitution change due to technological, market
and regulatory developments. For this reason, this Recommendation should replace the Authority’s 2016
Recommendation.
(7) Article 64(1) of the Code requires the Commission to identify markets within the electronic communications sector,
the characteristics of which may be such as to justify the imposition of regulatory obligations in accordance with the
principles of competition law. Competition law principles are therefore used in this Recommendation to define
relevant product markets in the electronic communications sector. This Recommendation is based on Article 5(2)(b)
of Part II of the Surveillance and Court Agreement whereby the Authority shall ‘formulate recommendations, deliver
opinions and issue notices or guidelines on matters dealt with in the EEA Agreement, if that Agreement or the
present Agreement expressly so provides or if the EFTA Surveillance Authority considers it necessary’.
(8) The ultimate objective of regulatory intervention is to produce benefits for end-users in terms of price, quality and
choice by achieving sustainable competition at retail level. The starting point for the identification of relevant
markets in this Recommendation should be the definition of retail markets in a forward-looking perspective over a
given time horizon, guided by competition law. Indeed, where retail markets are effectively competitive in the
absence of wholesale regulation, national regulatory authorities should conclude that regulation is no longer needed
on related wholesale markets.
(9) In accordance with Article 67(1) of the Code, imposition of ex ante regulatory obligations may be justified only in
markets where the three criteria referred to in Article 67(1)(a), (b), (c) of the Code are cumulatively met. This
Recommendation includes product and service markets, which the Authority, after observing the overall trends in
the EEA, found to meet the three criteria. Hence these markets are considered by the Authority to have
characteristics which may justify the imposition of regulatory obligations at least in some geographic areas and over
a foreseeable period. It should be for the national regulatory authorities to consider in their analyses of these
markets whether the further requirements set out in Article 67(2) of the Code are met.
(10) The first criterion relates to the presence of high and non-transitory barriers to entry. It seeks to establish whether,
when, and to what extent market entry is likely to occur, and to identify the relevant factors for a successful entry
into an electronic communications market. From a static point of view, two types of barriers to entry are particularly
relevant for the purpose of this Recommendation: structural barriers and legal or regulatory barriers.
(11) Structural barriers to entry derive from different cost or demand conditions that determine asymmetric conditions
between incumbents and new entrants, impeding or preventing market entry of the latter. High structural barriers
may also be found, for instance, when the market is characterised by absolute cost advantages or substantial
economies of scale and/or network effects, capacity constraints and/or high sunk costs. Structural barriers can also
exist where the provision of service requires a network component that cannot be technically duplicated or its
duplication is not economically feasible.
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(12) Legal or regulatory barriers may have a direct effect on the conditions of entry and/or the positioning of operators on
the relevant market. In regulated sectors, authorisation procedures, territorial restrictions, safety and security
standards, and other legal requirements may deter or delay entry. However, the relevance of legal and regulatory
barriers in electronic communications markets is decreasing. Legal or regulatory barriers that are likely to be
removed within the relevant time horizon of 5 years should not normally constitute a barrier to entry such as to
fulfil the first criterion.
(13) In innovation-driven markets characterised by ongoing technological progress, such as the electronic
communications markets, barriers to entry may progressively become less relevant. In such markets, competitive
constraints often come from threats exerted by potential innovative competitors that are not currently in the market.
Therefore, the possibilities to overcome barriers to entry within the relevant time horizon should also be taken into
consideration when identifying the relevant markets for possible ex anteregulation. This Recommendation identifies
markets where barriers to entry are expected to persist for the period of the next 5-10 years.
(14) Different barriers to entry should not be considered in isolation but cumulatively. While an entry barrier when
regarded individually may not be considered as high, together with other barriers it might create effects which
cumulatively would prevent or impede entry into the market.
(15) The second criterion addresses whether a market structure tends towards effective competition within the relevant
time horizon, having regard to the state and prospect of infrastructure-based competition and other sources of
competition behind the barriers to entry. An analysis of effective competition implies that the market will become
effectively competitive absent ex anteregulation within the period of review, or will do so after that period, provided
that clear evidence of positive dynamics in the market is observable already within the period of review. For instance,
convergence of products, delivered via different network technologies, may give rise to competitive constraints being
exercised by operators active in distinct product markets and may lead to the convergence of markets.
(16) Even when a market is characterised by high barriers to entry, other structural factors in that market may indicate that
the market still tends towards effective competition within the relevant time horizon. In markets where an increased
number of networks can be expected on a forward-looking basis, the application of this criterion entails primarily
examining the state and likely future development of infrastructure-based competition.
(17) In assessing the adequacy of competition and the need for regulatory intervention, national regulatory authorities
should also take into account whether wholesale access is available to any interested undertaking on reasonable
commercial terms permitting sustainable competitive outcomes for end-users on the retail market. Commercial
agreements, including agreements on wholesale access, co-investment agreements and reciprocal access agreements
between operators, which have been entered on a lasting basis and are sustainable, have the potential to improve
competitive dynamics and may ultimately resolve competition concerns at the related retail market and therefore
lead to deregulation of the wholesale markets. Thus, provided that they comply with principles of competition law,
they should be taken into consideration when assessing whether a market is expected to become competitive on a
forward-looking basis.
(18) Technological developments, or the convergence of products and markets, may give rise to competitive constraints
being exercised between operators active in distinct product markets. In this respect, over-the-top (OTT) services,
which today are generally not considered as direct substitutes to traditional services provided by electronic
communication service providers, and which in any case do not provide physical and data connectivity, might
nevertheless play a more important role in certain retail markets in the coming years due to further technological
developments and their continuous expansion and subsequently exercise indirect constraint on wholesale markets.
(19) The decision to define a market as susceptible to ex ante regulation should also depend on an assessment of the
sufficiency of competition law to address adequately the market failures identified. This third criterion aims to assess
the adequacy of competition law to tackle identified persistent market failure(s), in particular given that ex ante
regulatory obligations may effectively prevent competition law infringements. Competition law-based interventions
are likely to be insufficient where frequent and/or timely intervention is indispensable to redress persistent market
failure(s). In such circumstances, ex anteregulation should be considered an appropriate complement to competition
law. In general, the application of general competition rules in markets characterised by sustainable and effective
infrastructure-based competition should be sufficient.
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(20) The application of these three cumulative criteria should limit the number of regulated markets within the electronic
communications sector and thereby contribute to reducing ex ante sector-specific regulation progressively as
competition in those markets develops. Failure to meet any of the three criteria would indicate that a market is not
susceptible to ex anteregulation. It is essential that ex anteregulatory obligations are imposed on a wholesale market
in order to ensure sustainable competition only where there are one or more undertakings with significant market
power and where competition law remedies are not sufficient to address the problem.
(21) Newly emerging markets are considered to comprise products or services where, due to their novelty, it is difficult to
predict demand conditions or market entry and supply conditions, and consequently difficult to apply the three-
criteria test. Such markets should not be subject to inappropriate ex anteregulatory obligations in order to promote
innovation, while preventing, at the same time, foreclosure by the leading undertaking(7). Incremental upgrades to
existing network infrastructure rarely lead to the creation of new or emerging markets. The lack of substitutability of
a product has to be established from both demand and supply side perspectives before it can be concluded that it is
not part of an already existing market. The emergence of new retail services may give rise to a new derived wholesale
market to the extent that such retail services cannot be provided using existing wholesale products.
(22) Given the evolution of competition, including infrastructure-based competition, this Recommendation identifies only
relevant markets at the wholesale level, as was the case in the Authority's 2016 Recommendation. Ex anteregulation
imposed at the wholesale level should be considered sufficient to tackle potential competition problems on the
related downstream retail market(s).
(23) In line with Recital 165 of the Code, national regulatory authorities should at least analyse the markets that are listed
in this Recommendation, including those markets that are listed but no longer regulated in the specific national or
local context. With respect to the markets listed in the Annex to this Recommendation, national regulatory
authorities may still consider it appropriate, based on specific national circumstances, to conduct the three-criteria
test. National regulatory authorities may conclude that the three-criteria test is not met in the specific national
circumstances. If the three-criteria test is not met for a specific market listed in this Recommendation, national
regulatory authorities should not impose regulatory obligations on that market.
(24) National regulatory authorities should also analyse markets that are not contained in this Recommendation, but that
are regulated within the territory of their jurisdiction on the basis of previous market analyses, or other markets, if
they have sufficient grounds to consider that the three criteria test is met. Hence, the national regulatory authorities
can also define other relevant product and service markets, not listed in this Recommendation, if they can prove that
in their national context, the markets meet the three-criteria test.
(25) When carrying out a market analysis under Article 67 of the Code, both the national regulatory authorities and the
Authority should start the analysis from the retail markets. The assessment of a market should be done with a
forward-looking perspective in the absence of regulation based on a finding of significant market power and starting
from existing market conditions. The analysis should assess whether the market is prospectively competitive and
whether any lack of competition is durable, by taking into account expected or foreseeable market developments.
The analysis should take into account the effects of other types of regulation applicable to the relevant retail and
related wholesale market(s) throughout the relevant regulatory period.
(26) If the retail market concerned is not effectively competitive from a forward-looking perspective in the absence of ex
anteregulation, the corresponding wholesale market(s) susceptible to ex anteregulation in line with Article 67 of the
Code should be defined and analysed. In addition, when analysing the boundaries and market power within (a)
corresponding relevant wholesale market(s) to determine whether it is/they are effectively competitive, direct and
indirect competitive constraints should be taken into account, irrespective of whether these constraints result from
electronic communications networks, electronic communications services or other types of services or applications
that are equivalent from the end-users’ perspective.
(7) See Recital 23 of the Authority’s guidelines of 16 November 2022 on market analysis and the assessment of significant market power
under the regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services referred to in Annex XI of the Agreement on
the European Economic Area (‘the Authority’s guidelines on market analysis and the assessment of SMP’), published here, and Recital
163 of the Code.
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(27) When defining the relevant wholesale markets which may be susceptible to ex ante regulation, national regulatory
authorities should start by analysing the market which is most upstream of the retail market in which competitive
problems have been identified. National regulatory authorities should conduct an analysis of the markets that are
situated downstream from a regulated upstream input, to determine whether they would be effectively competitive
in the presence of regulation upstream, until it reaches the retail market.
(28) The most upstream market may, depending on national circumstances, consist of or include more generic cross-
market wholesale products such as physical infrastructure access (e.g. duct access) or passive access products. In
particular, where civil engineering infrastructure exists and is reusable, effective access to such infrastructure may
significantly facilitate the roll-out of very high capacity networks and encourage development of infrastructure-based
competition to the benefit of end-users.
(29) For these reasons, the Authority has considered the appropriateness of including a separate market for access to
physical infrastructure in this Recommendation. However, as there are significant differences in network topologies,
availability of ubiquitous ducts and level of demand for access to ducts and poles across the EEA, aligning with the
assessment of the Commission in Recommendation (EU) 2020/2245, the Authority concluded that a separate
market for access to physical infrastructure cannot, at present, be identified at EEA level and should therefore not be
included in the list of markets susceptible to ex anteregulation.
(30) Furthermore, Article 72 of the Code allows national regulatory authorities to impose access to civil engineering as a
stand-alone remedy on any relevant wholesale market. Such obligation to provide access to civil engineering may be
justified irrespective of whether the physical infrastructure to which access is granted is part of the regulated relevant
market and should be considered by national regulatory authorities before other access obligations are imposed
downstream, if proportionate and sufficient to promote competition in the benefit of the end-users.
(31) As regards wholesale broadband markets, virtual access products may be designed in a way that they display similar
or equal product features, regardless of the location of the handover point for access. Therefore, it could be
technically possible to provide wholesale broadband access at central or local level with comparable quality of
service from both the access seeker and the end users’ perspectives. In this context both the product features and the
willingness of access seekers to migrate between access points or to make use of various handover points within the
network architecture need to be analysed as part of the substitutability analysis.
(32) Many alternative operators climbed the ladder of investments and developed their own networks to the local access
point. Those operators would likely not consider central access products as a substitute for local access as it would
leave the investments into their own network infrastructure stranded. At the same time, it has to be acknowledged
that the access network is the most difficult part of the network to replicate due to the high sunk deployment costs
in relation to the number of customers that can benefit from the deployment.
(33) Despite the observed increase of infrastructure-based competition, local access is still characterised by high entry
barriers and regulated in the majority of EEA States. The wholesale local access market still meets the three-criteria
test, given that the access network is the part of the network most difficult to replicate. However, on a forward-
looking basis, the barriers to entry into the central access market can no longer be regarded as high and non-
transitory at EEA level as the market tends towards effective competition due to the presence of alternative
platforms, the widespread commercial availability of trunk capacity and the possibility of locally interconnected
operators to provide central access. Where access products, provided at various handover points, are identified as
being substitutes under specific national circumstances, the market should be found to encompass all such products.
Whether such a broad market meets the three-criteria test needs to be established on a case by case basis.
(34) The increased capabilities of electronic communications networks providing mass-market products may satisfy the
connectivity needs even of certain business customers. However, an important segment of the business market, as
well as the new demand emerging from digitisation of industry and from socio-economic drivers such as public
services e.g. hospitals and schools, will require also dedicated connections. Therefore, certain businesses still require
products with characteristics that are distinct from those of mass-market products.
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(35) With a view to delineating the boundaries of the market for dedicated capacity and other business access products
national regulatory authorities should, while ensuring that the relevant wholesale products correspond to the retail
market problem identified, take into account several factors such as different product functionalities and intended
use, price evolution over time and cross-price elasticity. The distinguishing product characteristics of dedicated
capacity are their ability to provide dedicated and uncontended connections and symmetrical speeds and should be
assessed, as for products in other markets, by means of a substitutability analysis.
(36) The deployment of alternative infrastructures providing a dedicated fibre connectivity for business has increased
significantly in particular in more densely populated areas, commercial centres and business districts. However, there
may be areas in which, even though the deployment of an alternative infrastructure for mass-market connectivity
may be economically viable, it may be less economically viable to duplicate networks providing isolated dedicated
connections due to the size of the addressable market. In those less densely populated areas, due to lack of
infrastructure-based competition, there is a risk that the demand for dedicated capacity would not be served by
competitive offers in the absence of regulation.
(37) In both the above wholesale access markets, competitive problems are unlikely to persist uniformly across a given
EFTA State and such markets should be subject to a thorough geographical analysis. Therefore, when defining
relevant markets in accordance with Article 64(3) of the Code, national regulatory authorities should identify
geographic areas where the conditions of competition are sufficiently homogeneous and which can be distinguished
from neighbouring areas in which the prevailing conditions of competition are appreciably different, having
particular regard to the question whether the potential operator having significant market power acts uniformly
across its network area or whether it faces appreciably different conditions of competition to a degree that its
activities are constrained in some areas but not in others.
(38) To date, national regulatory authorities have found most markets to be national because the incumbent’s copper
network had a national coverage. However, as the deployment of alternative networks progresses, competitive
conditions can vary significantly and sustainably between different areas of the same EFTA State (for instance
between urban and rural areas), thus making necessary the definition of separate geographic markets.
(39) For the purpose of the geographic market definition, national regulatory authorities should define a basic geographic
unit as a starting point for assessing competitive conditions. Such unit might follow the network topology or
administrative boundaries, depending on national circumstances. In all cases, following the Authority’s practice(8),
the geographic unit should be (a) of an appropriate size, i.e. small enough to avoid significant variations of
competitive conditions within each unit but big enough to avoid a resource-intensive and burdensome micro-
analysis that could lead to market fragmentation, (b) able to reflect the network structure of all relevant operators,
and (c) have clear and stable boundaries over time. As regards condition (b), national regulatory authorities should
rely, where relevant, on the geographical survey of networks conducted in accordance with Article 22 of the Code.
(40) Following the principles of competition law, and based on the analysis of the geographic units previously described,
national regulatory authorities should then establish a first definition of the scope of the geographic markets by
aggregating together units that exhibit similar competitive conditions. National regulatory authorities should assess
competitive conditions in a forward-looking manner, by looking at structural and behavioural indicators, taking into
account in particular, in line with Article 64(3) of the Code, the importance of infrastructure-based competition. Such
indicators can be, inter alia, the networks footprint, the number of competing networks, their respective market
shares, trends in market shares, localised or uniform pricing behaviour, characteristics of demands and customer
switching and churn. The resulting definition of geographic markets should be checked against an analysis of
demand and supply side substitutability. Non-adjacent geographic markets that present similar competitive
conditions may be analysed together at this stage.
(8) In particular, the Authority’s guidelines on market analysis and the assessment of SMP.
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(41) Significant variations of competitive conditions should be taken into account on a forward-looking basis at the stage
of market definition. Segmentation of remedies may be used to address less significant or less stable variations in
competitive conditions, including by adjusting remedies periodically or punctually, without thereby undermining
regulatory predictability.
(42) Article 75 of the Code empowers the Commission to adopt a delegated act(9)setting a single maximum EEA-wide
mobile voice termination rate and a single maximum EEA-wide fixed voice termination rate (together referred to as
‘the EEA-wide voice termination rates’). The EEA-wide voice termination rates will directly apply to any provider of
fixed and mobile termination services in the EEA. The EEA-wide single voice termination rates are based on the
efficient costs of providing termination services. The application of the EEA-wide voice termination rates will limit
the ability of mobile and fixed operators to set excessive termination rates. Thus, the risk of excessive termination
rates, which has been the most serious threat to competition on these markets, would disappear. Due to the strict
cost orientation applied in setting the EEA-wide voice termination rates, as required by the Code, the termination
rates should be similar to those expected in case of competitive markets. Therefore, the termination markets would
no longer meet the three-criteria test at EEA level.
(43) Nevertheless, specific circumstances may justify regulation of selected aspects of the termination markets in some
EFTA States. Specific national circumstances may indicate that these markets do not tend towards competition on a
forward-looking basis or that competitive problems continue to exist. This may be the case where operators were
denied interconnection or have experienced problems with terminating calls from their network in other operators’
networks. National regulatory authorities should address such problems, either by imposing SMP-based obligations
other than price control, if the three-criteria test is fulfilled, or by using other appropriate regulatory tools, i.e.
Article 61(2) of the Code, if the conditions specified there are met.
(44) The markets listed in the Annex to this Recommendation no longer include three markets that were listed in the
Authority’s 2016 Recommendation as they do not fulfil the three-criteria test, i.e. the markets for wholesale call
termination on individual public telephone networks provided at a fixed location (market 1), wholesale voice call
termination on individual mobile networks (market 2), and wholesale central access provided at a fixed location for
mass-market products (market 3b).
(45) The remaining markets of the Authority’s 2016 Recommendation, namely markets 3a (local wholesale access
provided at fixed location) and 4 (wholesale high quality access provided at fixed location), the latter partially
redefined, still warrant ex ante regulation as they meet the three-criteria test at EEA level. National regulatory
authorities should take into account their national circumstances when delineating these markets, in particular as
regards their geographic dimension.
(46) With a view to ensuring adequate consideration of the impact of regulation imposed on related markets when
determining whether a given market warrants ex anteregulation, national regulatory authorities should ensure that
related markets are analysed in a consistent manner and, where possible, at the same time or as close as possible to
each other in time.
(47) When considering whether to amend or maintain existing regulatory obligations, national regulatory authorities
should also apply the three-criteria test to those markets listed in the Annexes to the Authority’s Recommendation
of 14 July 2004(10), the Authority’s Recommendation of 5 November 2008(11) and the Authority’s 2016
Recommendation but no longer listed in the Annex to this Recommendation.
(9) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/654 of 18 December 2020 supplementing Directive (EU) 2018/1972 of the European
Parliament and of the Council by setting a single maximum Union-wide mobile voice termination rate and a single maximum Union-
wide fixed voice termination rate (OJ L 137, 22.4.2021, p. 1) (referred to at point 5czsc of Annex XI to the EEA Agreement).
(10) Recommendation of the EFTA Surveillance Authority No 194/04/COL of 14 July 2004 on relevant product and service markets
within the electronic communications sector susceptible to ex ante regulation in accordance with Directive 2002/21/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services,
as incorporated into the Agreement on the European Economic Area (OJ L 113, 27.4.2006, p. 18 and EEA Supplement No 21,
27.4.2006, p. 33).
(11) EFTA Surveillance Authority Recommendation of 5 November 2008 on relevant product and service markets within the electronic
communications sector susceptible to ex ante regulation in accordance with the Act referred to at point 5cl of Annex XI to the EEA
Agreement (Directive 2002/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on a common regulatory framework for electronic
communications networks and services), as adapted by Protocol 1 thereto and by the sectoral adaptions contained in Annex XI to that
Agreement (OJ C 156, 9.7.2009, p. 18 and EEA Supplement No 36, 9.7.2009, p. 1).
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(48) This Recommendation has been subject to a consultation with national regulatory authorities in the EFTA States and
with the Commission(12).
HEREBY RECOMMENDS:
1. In defining relevant markets appropriate to national circumstances in accordance with Article 64(3) of the Code,
national regulatory authorities should analyse the product and service markets identified in the Annex.
2. When considering that any of the markets listed in the Annex is not susceptible to ex anteregulation in the specific
national circumstances, national regulatory authorities should perform the three-criteria test and demonstrate, and
the Authority will verify, that at least one of the three criteria referred to in Article 67(1) of the Code is not met.
3. When identifying relevant geographic markets within their territory in accordance with Article 64(3) of the Code,
national regulatory authorities should carry out a granular analysis of demand and supply-side substitutability,
starting from an appropriate geographic unit, and aggregating such units that exhibit similar competitive
conditions. The assessment of competitive conditions should be forward-looking and should be based, inter alia, on
the number and characteristics of competing networks, distribution of and trends in market shares, prices and
behavioural patterns.
4. This Recommendation is without prejudice to market definitions, results of market analyses and regulatory
obligations adopted by national regulatory authorities in accordance with the regulatory framework in force prior
to the date of adoption of this Recommendation.
5. This Recommendation is addressed to the EFTA States.
Done at Brussels, 9 April 2025.
For the EFTA Surveillance Authority, Stefan BARRIGA
Arne RØKSUND College Member
President
Árni Páll ÁRNASON Melpo-Menie JOSÉPHIDÈS
Responsible College Member Countersigning as Director,
Legal and Executive Affairs
(12) The consultation took place between 12 February 2025 and 5 March 2025.
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ANNEX
Market 1: Wholesale local access provided at a fixed location
Market 2: Wholesale dedicated capacity
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