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Summarise the regulatory framework for the communications sector. Do any foreign ownership restrictions apply to communications services?
The decision-making procedure in Greece is divided and fragmented. The basic framework is set out in the acts that are enacted by the Hellenic Parliament. There is, however, an enormous quantity of secondary legislation that involves decisions that must be taken jointly by different ministers and three independent authorities.
The ministry with the most direct involvement and key role in the telecoms and media fields is the Ministry of Digital Policy, Telecommunications and Information.
However, the major responsibilities in these sectors are undertaken by regulatory agencies that are independent administrative authorities, with full independence from network operators and service providers. The agencies that regulate the communications and media sectors are the following:
The main legal framework determining the obligations of electronic communication network or electronic communication service providers consists of:
The new European Electronic Communications Code (Directive (EU) 2018/1972) was transposed into national legislation in September 2020 through Law No. 4727/2020, in which:
In the media sector, the liberalisation of the market in Greece and the transition from the state-controlled radio and television to the regime of radio and television operated by privately owned companies has been the result of a de facto development in the market that occurred before the appropriate legal framework. An immediate effect of this is that the market developed in an unregulated way. Few of the free-to-air television stations still operate with a temporary licence, and the majority of the free-to-air radio and television stations operate legally under certain temporary provisions, in a very muddy legal environment. In October 2015, Law No. 4339/2015 entered into force, introducing the provisions on the authorisation of digital terrestrial television broadcasting content providers. It specifies the extent of the investment, financial reliability, experience and existing position in the market to avoid concentration, as well as the kind of programmes that will be transmitted.
According to the applicable legislation (Law No. 3592/2007), controlling more than one licence holder in the television or radio sector is prohibited. Everyone is allowed to participate in more than one licence holder in television or radio to the extent that he or she does not control more than one (a person has control over a licence holder if they can substantially influence the decision-making process or has the power to appoint at least one member of the board of directors or an administrator in another operator). Foreign investors have the opportunity to participate in broadcasting activities in Greece, subject to the generally applicable restrictions. The concentration of media is prohibited. Concentration in media is considered to exist if an undertaking acquires a dominant position that is defined in Law No. 3592/2007, which also provides for the complementary application of Competition Law No. 3959/2011. The Competition Commission is the competent authority to consider competition law issues in the media sector, including issues of concentration. Market share is calculated based on income from advertising and exploitation of programmes or provision of other similar services during the previous year.
Nevertheless, Law No. 4339/2015 (as amended by Law No. 4487/2017) sets the following restrictions on shareholders holding more than 1 per cent of the board members and legal representatives of entities that participate in tenders for digital terrestrial television content providers:
The law also refers to the general prohibition from participating in companies that execute public contracts and require licence applicants to submit evidence proving how the applicant acquired the financial means used or intended to be used for the operation of the content provider.
Telecoms and audio-visual media distribution sectors are open to foreign investment including concerning the supply of telecoms equipment. Both electronic communications and media sectors are open to foreign investment, subject to generally applicable restrictions. Also, no restrictions apply to the supply of telecoms equipment from foreign companies.
Finally, except for online gambling, e-commerce and data-protection legislation, there is no other internet-specific legislation. General provisions of the law are applicable, along with certain guidelines or ad hoc decisions of the Greek Data Protection Act that are used as guidelines for the interpretation of such general provisions on specific electronic communications services.
The general EU framework provisions on radio and television content apply to Greece, meaning that the programme must adhere to the general principles of the Greek Constitution and there are further obligations concerning minors, rating of programmes, advertising, pluralism and non-discrimination, etc. The current EU Audiovisual Media Services Directive, Directive 2010/13/EU (the AMS Directive), as amended in 2018 by Directive (EU) 2018/1808 and transposed in Greece by Law No. 4779/2021, governs EU-wide coordination of national legislation on all audiovisual media, both traditional television broadcasts and on-demand services.
Describe the authorisation or licensing regime.
Any natural or legal person can apply to acquire a general authorisation to provide electronic communications services or networks, which is processed at once. To obtain a general authorisation, the requesting entity needs to submit a registration declaration to the EETT, along with the relevant supporting documents. This registration declaration must be submitted solely through the Online Application System for Electronic Communications Services Providers. When submitting the application, the person concerned must electronically submit all required supporting documents attached to the declaration. To access the Online Application System for Electronic Communication Providers, the applicant must submit an ‘administrator’s statement’. The person providing this statement may perform the specific electronic communications activity described in the registration declaration, immediately upon filing a complete registration declaration. For the declaration to be deemed complete, relevant administrative fees must be paid. The requesting operator is included in the Registry of Authorised Operators and may obtain a relevant certificate by the EETT upon request within seven days of receipt of such request.
Any natural or legal person can apply for rights of use, which will be processed within three weeks from the application for a right of use of numbers or six weeks for numbers with significant economic importance; applications for rights of use of frequencies will be processed within six weeks if there is no limitation of the number thereof or up to nine-and-a-half months from the application if such a limitation is imposed.
Except for free spectrum bands, for all wireless services, an individual right to use frequencies is required and is granted by the competent authorities upon a relevant request. Only if the spectrum available is not enough to cater for existing demand from existing or new competitors will a limitation on the number of individual licences be effected. This will be the result of a public consultation that the EETT must prepare following a ministerial decision to that effect. If, as a result of that consultation, the number of individual rights has to be limited, the EETT must decide how this limited number of individual rights will be granted. Any kind of tender can be held under the principles of transparency, etc, that are set by Greek law under EU directives. In practice, in cases of a limited number of rights of use of frequencies, the EETT usually awards them through auctions.
Licensing for terrestrial pay-TV and free-to-air television is carried out based on a tender or auction. Law No. 4339/2015, as in force, defines the process and key conditions for awarding licences to digital terrestrial television content providers. It specifies the extent of the investment, financial reliability, experience and existing position in the market to avoid concentration, as well as the kind of programmes that will be transmitted.
In July 2017, the ESR issued a decision defining that the number of television licences to be awarded through the tender will be seven. In 2018, the ESR awarded five out of the seven available free-to-air national terrestrial digital television licences, while in 2019 it awarded one more.
Regarding Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), in January 2018, following the issuing of Ministerial Decision Nos. 169–171/2018, an auction was launched by the EETT for the awarding of rights to use radio frequencies of terrestrial DAB of national and regional coverage, with the procedure of sealed tenders in which each tenderer pays the price offered. Through this process, a national coverage radio frequency use right would be granted for the DAB+ multiplex channels described in the relevant tender document and several regional radio frequency use rights for the award areas specified in the same tender document. The auction received two applications for awards, which were both found non-eligible by the EETT in May 2018. Analogue radio FM stations in Greece still operate under a temporary licensing regime.
As far as licences for antennas and base stations are concerned, the relevant framework was reviewed in 2019 with Law No. 4635/2019 (articles 20 to 38) and new EETT Regulation No. 919/26/2019 on the licencing of antennas and base stations. According to Law No. 4635/2019, the EETT’s issuance of antenna construction licences is carried out through the Antenna Electronic Application System (SILYA), as per the previous legislative framework, but without any requirement for planning permission to be granted. The planning approval is issued following the EETT’s antenna construction permit, through the e-Licensing electronic system already used for buildings and intended to automatically interoperate with the SILYA at the request of an authorised engineer and followed by a building inspection. The new law greatly simplifies the process of modifying antenna constructions, while a recent joint ministerial decision also exempts low electromagnetic environmental nuisance antenna facilities from the licensing process, resulting in a significant number of antennas, mainly within urban centres, now requiring a simple registration procedure, also implemented through the SILYA.
The duration of general authorisations is indefinite. The duration of rights of use of frequencies is defined in the relevant EETT decisions, awarding the rights of use.
Fees imposed on operators with a general authorisation are paid on an annual basis and correspond to the costs of management, monitoring and compliance with the general authorisation regime and to the rights to use radio frequencies or numbers it derives from a formula included in the EETT Decision on General Authorisations. The main factors taken into account for the calculation of the fees are the total turnover from electronic communications networks or services minus the wholesale interconnection and roaming costs paid to other operators. The fees are equal to a percentage that varies depending on the net revenues, calculated as described above.
According to EETT General Authorisation Regulation No 991/4/31-5-2021, should the natural or legal person registered in the Electronic Communications Networks and Services Providers Registry fail to submit a fee statement for over two financial years, the EETT shall, without further notice, consider deregistration. If the person fails to comply by 30 September, the EETT shall, following that date, proceed without notice to its deletion from the Registry. In this case, the EETT shall also revoke the rights to use numbers and (or) radio frequencies that have been assigned to this natural or legal person, as well as enforce the provisions of the Code for the Collection of Public Revenue to collect the relevant annual administrative fees and any other outstanding amounts payable by the person to the EETT. To re-register in the Electronic Communications Networks and Services Providers Registry, the person concerned must settle any outstanding financial issues with the EETT.
Fees for use of numbers are defined for each series of numbers in a decision of the EETT on the allocation of numbering resources.
Fees for rights of use of spectrum are imposed by the EETT decision and are usually paid on an annual basis, except for rights of use of frequencies that are granted through competitive procedures, such as auctions, in which case the EETT only defines the minimum bid, and the final fees result from the auction procedure.
All telecoms operators are obliged to have registered themselves under the general authorisation regime and be granted individual rights to use frequencies or numbers and the appropriate licences for every antenna they use. Apart from that, there is no other substantial difference concerning the regulation of fixed, mobile and satellite services.
There is no exclusivity granted to any operator in any sector. However, there are a limited number of licences concerning mobile and fixed wireless access networks and digital television networks. According to the relevant legislation, the EETT proceeds to a public consultation that leads to a proposal by the EETT to the Minister of Digital Policy concerning how licences will be granted, the cost, the duration of the entitlement, etc.
Do spectrum licences generally specify the permitted use or is permitted use (fully or partly) unrestricted? Is licensed spectrum tradable or assignable?
Spectrum licences, and applicable secondary legislation, specify the permitted use and the technical characteristics of equipment that may be used, to the extent that specifications are required, taking into account the principle of proportionality and technological neutrality. The law allows for spectrum trading under specific conditions. To transfer, lease or make any change in the control of the rights holder, an application must be filed with the EETT that considers the relevant application and decides based on specific criteria defined by law.
In December 2020, Radio Frequency Rights for terrestrial systems capable of providing wireless broadband electronic communications services in the 700 megahertz (MHz), 2 gigahertz (GHz), 3400–3800MHz and 26GHz bands, were granted through an auction, and they have been pointed out as pioneering frequency bands to be used for the introduction and development of 5G networks in the European Union.
By May 2022, the procedures for the allocation of spectrum in the band 410–430MHz are expected to be completed. The only participant in the process is telecoms group OTE.
Which communications markets and segments are subject to ex-ante regulation? What remedies may be imposed?
In April 2020, the EETT decided on the deregulation of the retail leased lines with a capacity up to 2 megabits per second (Mbps), the only retail market that was still subject to ex-ante regulation, while in December 2020, the EETT decided on the deregulation of the fixed origination market.
The incumbent Greek legacy operator, OTE, has also been designated a significant market power (SMP) operator in the following wholesale markets:
All fixed network operators are designated as having SMP in the markets for termination to individual fixed networks and all (three) mobile network operators are designated as having SMP in the markets for termination to individual mobile networks.
The ex-ante regulatory obligations for transparency, price controls, cost accounting separation, access to and use of specific network facilities and non-discrimination have been imposed on SMP operators in the above markets (with a few exceptions in specific markets).
In the context of regulation of fixed wholesale local access market, prices for local-loop unbundling access, virtual access products and ancillary facilities such as co-location are regulated based on cost orientation. Further, the EETT imposed an obligation on the OTE to provide access for the deployment of next generation access (NGA) networks based on very high-speed digital subscriber line (VDSL) vectoring infrastructure and services by other operators (or based on other NGA technology) through a process managed by the EETT for the assignment of local sites to operators. Wholesale price is cost-oriented and defined by the EETT through a bottom-up long-run incremental cost plus (LRIC+) model. For that purpose, in 2020, the EETT developed a bottom-up LRIC+ model and defined new wholesale cost-oriented prices.
On the third round of market analysis for 2020, the OTE was found to hold SMP in the market for:
Wholesale price is cost-oriented and defined by the EETT through a bottom-up LRIC+ model. Until the development of the bottom-up model in 2020, the EETT defined temporary wholesale prices using the retail minus methodology.
According to EETT Decision No. 968/1/2020 on the analysis of termination market to individual fixed networks, the European Commission’s delegated act setting single maximum EU-wide voice termination rates, is implemented for fixed termination rates.
In practice, there are no cable networks in Greece.
In cases of interconnection disputes, the EETT can intervene through the standard dispute resolution procedure, provided for by the Law on Electronic Communications. Prices of wholesale interconnection services that are regulated are defined based on cost orientation.
A general obligation to provide access to mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) operators is imposed on mobile network operators (MNOs) through a relevant provision included in the rights of use of frequencies. However, this obligation does not specify the pricing or non-pricing terms of access provision.
Volton Group (via its related company Cell Mobile) is preparing its entry into the telecommunications market, having reached a commercial agreement with Vodafone Greece to operate as a MVNO.
The provisions of the EU Roaming Regulation have been fully implemented from 15 June 2017.
Except for radio and television legislation, online gambling legislation, the provisions of the Greek presidential decree implementing e-commerce and the data protection legislation, which includes specific provisions on internet services, there is no specific national regulation. The general provisions of law and relevant EU framework, recommendations, opinions and self-regulation instruments also affect the provision of internet services.
There are no specific limits on an internet service provider’s freedom to control or prioritise the type or source of data that it delivers. The EU legislation on Open Internet Access, namely Regulation (EU) 2015/2120, is fully implemented. The Regulation prohibits operators from blocking, slowing down or prioritising traffic. Traffic management measures are authorised if they are reasonable, meaning that the measures shall be transparent, non-discriminatory and proportionate and based on objectively technical differences in traffic (article 3(3)). Such measures cannot monitor specific content and cannot be maintained longer than necessary. The EETT issued the Decision on National Open Regulation Issues, which implemented Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 in 2018.
Additional issues regarding access and securing or enforcing rights to public and private land to install telecommunications infrastructure.
Law No. 4463/2017 implemented EU cost-reduction Directive 2014/61/EU. Until the operation of the Information System, which will support the one-stop procedure for the granting of the rights of way, the procedure of article 11 of Annex X of Law No. 4070/2012, as amended by Law No. 4463/2017, applies.
In July 2018, the EETT conducted a public consultation on the modification of EETT Regulation No. 528/075/2009 for the determination of fees for rights of way, rights of use of rights of ways and the number of guarantees of good performance of rights of ways operations for Greece to simplify the relevant procedures. Additionally, in August 2018, the EETT issued its new Regulation on Collocation and the common use of facilities.
In 2022, Wind transferred its fibre business to a newly established company, Hellenic Open Fiber (also owned by United Groups), covering physical infrastructures like ducts, sites, fibre cables and active equipment.
Is there a legal basis for requiring structural or functional separation between an operator’s network and service activities? Has structural or functional separation been introduced or is it being contemplated?
There is an obligation to keep separate accounts or structural separation for entities providing public electronic communications networks or publicly available electronic communications services that have special or exclusive rights for the provision of services in other sectors in the Greek state or another EU member state and their annual turnover is over €50 million in activities associated with electronic communications networks or services.
Voluntary separation by a vertically integrated operator that has been designated as having SMP in one or several relevant markets was introduced by Law No. 4727/2020. Operators shall inform the EETT at least three months before any intended transfer of their local access network assets or a substantial part thereof to a separate legal entity under different ownership, or an establishment of a separate business entity, to provide all retail providers, including their own retail divisions, with fully equivalent access products. Such operators may also offer commitments regarding access conditions that are to apply to their network during an implementation period after the proposed form of separation is implemented, to ensure effective and non-discriminatory access by third parties. the EETT shall assess the effect of the intended transaction, together with the commitments offered, where applicable, on existing regulatory obligations under Law No. 4727/2020.
According to Law No. 4727/2020, functional separation is included between the remedies that may be imposed by the regulator on SMP operators, under the conditions stipulated in law, which are under the relevant EU directive. However, in practice, the issue has not been raised by the EETT and no relevant consultation has been undertaken. Apart from that, accounting separation could be imposed on operators with SMP in specific markets and has indeed been imposed on the incumbent in the markets where it has been found to hold an SMP position, as well as MNOs in the mobile termination markets.
Outline any universal service obligations. How is provision of these services financed?
The universal service obligations apply to the following services:
According to the decision on cost allocation, the cost is undertaken by all operators authorised under the general authorisation regime (including the incumbent), by a proportion depending on their total revenues deriving from the provision of electronic communications networks or services, provided that their turnover exceeds €15 million.
The designated Universal Service Provider, OTE SA, has already applied for compensation concerning the net cost of the Universal Service Obligation for the years 2012 to 2016. In April 2021, the EETT issued its decision for the net cost of universal service fo
The universal service obligations apply to the following services:
Ministerial Decision (7435 EX 2022/18-3-2022) on the definition of the content of the Universal Service, the reasonable request, the conditions, the selection criteria and the procedure for the designation of an enterprise or businesses that are subject to the obligation to provide the Universal Service, was published in March 2022.
According to this Decision, the services offered in the context of the Universal Service must have at least the following characteristics:
The obligated provider satisfies requests if there are no commercially available service packages with the same or better characteristics than the above and with a price lower or equal to €27 per month including VAT and fees in the areas concerned.
An undertaking that is subject to an obligation to provide services in the framework of the Universal Service must satisfy all requests for access to the public electronic communications network in a fixed location, at no cost to the end user, provided that:
According to the decision on cost allocation, the cost is undertaken by all operators authorised under the general authorisation regime (including the incumbent), by a proportion depending on their total revenues deriving from the provision of electronic communications networks or services, provided that their turnover exceeds €15 million.
This decision is to be amended. The EETT held a public consultation in July 2021, in the published results of which, taking into account the proposals made by participants, the EETT proposes that Universal Service companies with a total turnover of over €9 million participate in the cost.
Also, according to Ministerial Decision 12698 EX 2022/4-4-2022, which contains affordability measures for Universal Service services that are not provided in a fixed position, mobile telephony providers are obliged to provide broadband internet access service with a minimum rated download speed of 10 Mbps and at least 30 GBytes available per month and call time of at least 1,500 minutes per month to fixed networks or fixed and mobile networks, to end users for whom none of the following criteria is met:
The designated Universal Service Provider, OTE SA, has already applied for compensation concerning the net cost of the Universal Service Obligation for the years 2012 to 2016. In April 2021, the EETT issued its decision for the net cost of universal service for the years 2012 to 2016, which stipulates that the net cost amounts to €12,691,504 for 2012; €7,289,044 for 2013; €6,018,574 for 2014; €6,639,429 for 2015 and €4,166,869 for 2016.
Describe the number allocation scheme and number portability regime in your jurisdiction.
Number allocation includes primary and secondary allocation. Numbers are primarily allocated by the EETT by awarding ‘rights of use of numbers’ following the application of the providers that have obtained a general authorisation covering services that justify the use of the requested number range. Providers may proceed to secondary allocation to users. No third-level allocation is permitted (allocation from one user to another).
Numbers from the number range of machine-to-machine (M2M) communications are allocated by the EETT to any company. In addition, only numbers from the number range of M2M communications numbers may be used abroad in the European Union.
The decision on the allocation of numbers is issued within three weeks from the date of submission of a complete application. The fees for allocation and use of numbering resources (for the first year) must be paid within 15 days of the submission of the application and proof of payment must be submitted to the EETT, or else the application is considered non-existent. In the case of rejection of the application, the allocation and usage fees are reimbursed to the applicant. The allocation is valid until the due date of payment of the annual usage fees for the coming year and is renewed upon payment of the annual fees every year.
Number portability applies to fixed and mobile numbers and the following special categories of numbers:
Portability requests are addressed to the recipient provider, which communicates the request through the national portability database to the donor-operator.
Portability for both fixed and mobile numbers must be completed within one working day from the date of acceptance of the portability request from the donor operator. However, for fixed numbers, when the portability request is submitted jointly with a local-loop unbundling transfer request, the numbers are ported on the date of transfer and activation of the local loop, which technically extends the deadline for fixed numbers.
The EETT’s new rules on both fixed and mobile numbers’ portability entered into force in June 2018, intending to resolve inadequacies of the former framework. Under the new arrangements, a subscriber has the right to withdraw without charge and in the case of a contract either remotely (via telephone, internet or fax) or out of the shop (eg, through a representative of the company at the subscriber’s site) without explanation. Therefore, it can cancel the number-portability application that it has submitted. Those options apply for a period of 14 calendar days from the conclusion of the contract. More specifically, under the new framework:
Are customer terms and conditions in the communications sector subject to specific rules?
Customer terms and conditions for the provision of electronic communications networks and services are subject both to general consumer protection legislation and to sector-specific regulation and particularly to the General Authorisation Regulation of the EETT, which defines the minimum content of such terms and conditions.
From May 2021, the EETT’s General Authorisation Regulation introduced obligations for:
Are there limits on an internet service provider’s freedom to control or prioritise the type or source of data that it delivers? Are there any other specific regulations or guidelines on net neutrality?
There are no relevant specific limits. The EU legislation is fully implemented.
EETT Decision No. 876/7b/2018 introducing an open internet regulation that establishes measures for the purchase of internet access services, under the relevant EU regulation, Regulation (EU) 2015/2120, was issued in December 2018. The regulation was amended in 2019 and 2020.
It addresses issues such as:
Additionally, in the field control of commercial practices (regarding zero-rating and subsidised access), services or information for the purposes of subscriber support, as well as applications for speed measurement in cell phones is acceptable, whereas the following are not permitted:
Is there specific legislation or regulation in place, and have there been any enforcement initiatives relating to digital platforms?
There is no national legislation or regulation specifically addressing digital platforms, except for video-sharing platforms that are regulated in Law No. 4779/2021 in accordance with the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive. Nevertheless, Regulation (EU) 2019/1150 on promoting fairness and transparency for business users of online intermediation services is directly applicable to national legislation, and on November 2020, Law No. 4753/2020 was published in Greece, containing supplementary measures for the implementation of the Regulation. The Regulation sets out rules to ensure that business users of online intermediation services and corporate website users concerning online search engines are granted appropriate transparency, fairness and effective redress possibilities. It applies to online intermediation services and online search engines provided, or offered to be provided, to business users and corporate website users, respectively, that have their place of establishment or residence in the European Union and that, through those online intermediation services or online search engines, offer goods or services to consumers located in the European Union, irrespective of the place of establishment or residence of the providers of those services and irrespective of the law otherwise applicable. The European Commission encourages the drawing up of codes of conduct by providers of online intermediation services and by organisations and associations representing them, together with business users, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their representative organisations, that are intended to contribute to the proper application of this Regulation, taking account of the specific features of the various sectors in which online intermediation services are provided, as well as of the specific characteristics of SMEs.
Are there specific regulatory obligations applicable to NGA networks? Is there a government financial scheme to promote basic broadband or NGA broadband penetration?
In the fourth round of market analysis referring to the market for wholesale fixed local access, the EETT found once more that the fixed incumbent OTE holds an SMP position in these markets and imposed additional obligations related to the deployment of NGA networks through VDSL Vectoring. These obligations include the provision of information on the incumbent’s local access network for the purpose of assignment of specific local sites to other operators with the obligation to deploy VDSL Vectoring infrastructure following an allocation process managed by the EETT. The operators that are assigned specific areas (local sites) also undertake obligations related to the terms of provision of services at the wholesale level.
In the context of regulation of fixed wholesale local access market prices for virtual access, NGA products are regulated based on cost orientation. Wholesale price is cost-oriented and defined by the EETT through a bottom-up LRIC+ model. For that purpose, in 2020, the EETT developed a bottom-up LRIC+ model and defined new wholesale cost-oriented prices.
In general, Greece is accelerating its high-speed broadband (NGA) coverage, making significant progress in this sector.
Is there a specific data protection regime applicable to the communications sector?
In addition to the general provisions on data protection, special provisions have been imposed by law concerning data protection in communications. The Hellenic Data Protection Authority is responsible for monitoring the implementation of relevant legislation.
Further, the Greek Constitution provides for an independent authority, the ADAE, which is responsible solely for the communications sector and has issued relevant secondary legislation (the Regulations). The ADAE sets the rules that must be followed by all telecommunications operators and service providers in safeguarding secrecy in telecommunications, which is a constitutionally protected right.
The Greek data protection regime is primarily set out in the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) and Law No. 4624/2019 on the Protection of Personal Data, incorporating the GDPR and Directive (EU) 2016/680. Moreover, while the e-Privacy Law (Law No. 3471/2006) applies mainly to the electronic communications sector, certain provisions are not sector-specific, such as the provisions on unsolicited communications.
Specific legislation (article 19 of the Greek Constitution, Law No. 2225/1994 (as in force today), Presidential Decree No. 47/2005, article 255 of the Penal Code of Procedure, Law No. 3471/2006, Law No. 3674/2008, Law No. 3917/2011 and the Regulation on General Authorisations as in force) requires operators to assist the government to lawfully intercept telecommunications messages after the intervention of the public prosecutor when explicitly defined major crimes that explicitly defined are being investigated and under ADAE’s supervision.
The relevant EU directive has been fully implemented in Greece with Law No. 3917/2011. Operators and service providers must destroy customer data 12 months after the time of every communication unless otherwise specifically requested by the public prosecutor. Operators and service providers are not compensated for their efforts. Following the annulment of the Data Retention Directive (Directive 2006/24/EC) by the European Court of Justice, the national legal framework on data retention is under review but remains in force. This framework is subject to obligations arising from GDPR and Law No. 4624/2019.
The relevant EU directives have been fully implemented in Greece with Law No. 3471/2006.
Is there specific legislation or regulation in place concerning cybersecurity or network security in your jurisdiction?
Data controllers and processors are required by law to ensure the implementation of appropriate organisational and technical measures to ensure the protection of personal data. Security obligations of electronic communications networks and services providers are mainly governed by articles 148 and 149 of Law No. 4727/2020 and relevant ADAE Regulations (ADAE Decision Nos. 165/2011 and 205/2013, in force as amended by ADAE Decision No. 99/2017). According to the above-mentioned pieces of legislation, providers of public electronic communications networks or publicly available electronic communications services are required to implement appropriate and proportionate organisational and technical measures to ensure the security of networks and services (eg, security policies and analytical procedures). In addition, article 12 of Law No. 3471/2006 regarding data and privacy protection in the electronic communications sector and article 2 of Law No. 3674/2008 regarding the enhancement of the framework on the privacy of telephony services, are applicable and provide for similar obligations.
Law No. 4577/2018 transposed the Network and Information Systems Directive (EU) 2016/1148 (the NIS Directive). According to the NIS Directive, certain additional obligations are imposed on a list of operators and providers. Businesses falling within the scope of Law No. 4577/2018 have the following basic obligations:
Is there specific legislation or regulation in place, and have there been any enforcement initiatives in your jurisdiction, addressing the legal challenges raised by big data?
No legislation or regulation specifically addresses the legal challenges raised by big data. Businesses planning to run big data projects processing personal data in Greece need to consider the GDPR and Law No. 4624/2019. Regarding the use of non-personal data, businesses should take note of Regulation No. 2018/1807 on the free movement of non-personal data, which entered into force on 28 May 2019 and is applicable in Greece.
Law No. 4727/2020, which transposed Directive (EU) 2019/1024 on open data and the re-use of public sector information, establishes the principle of availability of public administration information, according to which citizens have the right to immediately access and reuse public information. The aforementioned law repealed the Greek Code on Access to Public Documents and Data (PD 28/2015) almost in its entirety (with the exception of article 1 (access to public documents) and article 3 (access to, and provision of, electronic public documents).
Are there any laws or regulations that require data to be stored locally in the jurisdiction?
Law No. 3917/2011 imposes on operators an obligation to store in Greece all data retained in compliance with the data retention obligation for 12 months. The initial wording of the law in 2011 required retained data to be ‘generated and stored’ in Greece. This was amended in 2013 and the current framework only refers to the obligation to ‘store’ such data in Greece and retain it for 12 months.
Summarise the key emerging trends and hot topics in communications regulation in your jurisdiction.
A number of issues were the topic of the EETT’s recent public consultations to enable the public to present their comments and views on the following proposed text:
In August 2021, the EETT issued Decision No. 1000/02 on the approval of OTE’s Reference Order for the provision of Leased Wholesale Lines, implementing its Decision No. 934/03/27.4.2020.
Finally, in May 2022, the procedures for the allocation of spectrum in the band 410–430MHz were expected to be completed and the only participant in the process is the OTE.
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