Public consultation on the draft Updated BEREC Guidelines on Geographical surveys of network deployment

Deadline: 9 February 2026, close of business

Document under public consultation: Draft Updated BEREC Guidelines on Geographical surveys of network deployment

During the 65th BEREC plenary meeting (4-5 December 2025), the Board of Regulators has approved the draft Updated BEREC Guidelines on Geographical Surveys of Network Deployments (BoR (25) 184) for public consultation.

Background

In 2020 and 2021, BEREC published three “Guidelines on Geographical surveys” based on the mandate under Article 22 of the EECC regarding the mapping of broadband network deployments. These Guidelines on Geographical surveys are:

1. BEREC Guidelines on Geographical surveys of network deployments acc. to Article 22(1) EECC – the Core Guidelines (GS I, BoR (20) 42 published in March 2020);
2. BEREC Guidelines on Geographical surveys of network deployments acc. to Article 22(2) – Article 22(4) EECC – the Guidelines on optional policies or the Procedural GL (GS II, BoR (21) 32 published in March 2021);
3. BEREC Guidelines on Geographical surveys of network deployments – Verification of information acc. to Article 22(1) EECC – the Verification Guidelines (GS III, BoR (21) 82 published in June 2021). The implementation report on the BEREC Guidelines on Geographical Surveys of Network Deployments published in 2024 demonstrated that the BEREC Guidelines had a positive impact and resulted in a solid foundation for a harmonised delivery of geographical surveys in European countries. Nonetheless, due to technological developments, recent publications by BEREC, new EU legislation, and a multitude of new European Commission and EU soft law documents, it is deemed appropriate to update the Guidelines.

Aim

The public consultation aims to gather stakeholders' views on the proposed amendments to the core Guidelines, which include updates on premises activated, speeds declared optional for fixed broadband, Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) networks, technology, consistency with Very High Capacity Networks (VHCN) Guidelines, cell area coverage versus cell edge coverage, indoor coverage, and reference to Verification Guidelines.

The draft Guidelines also consider the role of geographical surveys in providing end-users with insights into service availability, which is helpful for their decision-making, for instance, when choosing an electronic communications service provider.

Proposed changes are visible with the track changes functionality, and BEREC specifically seeks input on whether the speed classes listed in Annex 2 should be revised. The modifications are shown in track change and summarised in the overview table in paragraph 16 of the document.

The outcomes of the public consultation will be used to finalise the Guidelines, which are expected to be adopted at the 67th BEREC plenary meeting in 2026. BEREC will further take into account the European Commission's methodology on 5G Mobile and Fixed Quality of Service Coverage Mapping, which is being developed in parallel.

Submit your contributions

Interested parties are kindly asked to send their contributions on the Draft Updated BEREC Guidelines on Geographical surveys of network deployment via email to [email protected] by 9 February 2026, close of business.

Contributions should be sent preferably in English, and, in order to facilitate processing of the responses, the comments provided should clearly refer to the specific paragraphs of the document.

After submitting the contribution, an acknowledgement email will be sent.

All stakeholders are strongly encouraged to submit their contributions as early as possible. Contributions received after the above-mentioned deadline will not be taken into account.

In accordance with BEREC's privacy policy on public consultations, BEREC will publish all contributions and a summary of them, while respecting confidentiality requests. Any such requests should clearly indicate which information is considered confidential and be accompanied by a non-confidential version in case the contribution is partially deemed as confidential.

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