Telecom is one of the most regulated industries: spectrum is a limited public resource, numbers are national property, and networks carry private communications. This module covers who decides what, with the EU and Croatian context.
Note on facts: figures such as market shares and prices change every quarter. The values below come from the public HAKOM and EU sources listed in References and carry the date they were checked; always confirm current data at the source.
1. Who regulates whom
| Level | Body | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Global | ITU (International Telecommunication Union, UN agency) | Radio Regulations, spectrum allocation in three Regions, numbering plans (E.164, E.212), standards (ITU-T), IMT definitions (ITU-R); WRC (World Radiocommunication Conference, every 3–4 years) |
| Europe | CEPT / ECC | Harmonised spectrum use across 48 countries; ECC decisions |
| ETSI | European standards (also hosts 3GPP partner functions) | |
| EU | European Commission (DG CONNECT) | Directives and regulations; RSPG (Radio Spectrum Policy Group); BEREC (Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications) |
| Croatia | HAKOM — Hrvatska regulatorna agencija za mrežne djelatnosti (Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries) | Telecom, post and rail regulator: spectrum licences, numbering, market analyses, consumer protection, quality-of-service monitoring |
| Ministry of Sea, Transport and Infrastructure | Policy; telecoms law drafting | |
| AZOP | Data-protection authority (GDPR) | |
| CARNET, CERT, ZSIS, SOA, HNB, etc. | Academic network, cyber-security and other authorities | |
| Industry | GSMA | Operators' association: roaming, fraud, IMEI database, MWC |
| O-RAN Alliance, 5GAA, LoRa Alliance, Wi-Fi Alliance, Bluetooth SIG | Technology alliances |
2. Main laws and rules (EU framework)
| Instrument | What it does |
|---|---|
| European Electronic Communications Code (EECC), Directive (EU) 2018/1972 | Single framework for networks and services: spectrum, market regulation, universal service, consumer rights, emergency communications (112, reverse 112), number-independent services (OTT). Transposed nationally by Dec 2020 (Croatia: new Electronic Communications Act, ZEK, 2022) |
| GDPR, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 | General personal-data protection: legal basis, consent, DPO, breach notification within 72 h, fines up to 4% of global turnover |
| ePrivacy Directive 2002/58/EC (revision pending as "ePrivacy Regulation") | Confidentiality of communications, location and traffic data, cookies, spam |
| Data retention | EU Directive 2006/24/EC was annulled in 2014 (CJEU Digital Rights Ireland); national retention rules must be targeted and proportionate (later CJEU decisions Tele2 Sverige, La Quadrature du Net) |
| Open Internet / Net Neutrality, Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 | No blocking or throttling; limits on zero-rating; basis for BEREC guidelines |
| EU Roaming Regulation (EU) 2022/612 | "Roam like at home" extended to 30 June 2032; wholesale price caps fall over time (data caps from €2/GB in 2022 to €1/GB from 2027; voice and SMS caps fixed at about €0.019 per minute and €0.003 per SMS from 2025). The 2017 start of free roaming applied to all EU/EEA |
| NIS2 Directive (EU) 2022/2555 | Cyber-security duties for "essential" entities including telecom operators; incident reporting, risk management, management accountability |
| EU 5G Toolbox (2020) | Risk-mitigation measures on vendors and supply chain |
| Radio Equipment Directive (RED) 2014/53/EU | Rules for radio devices placed on the EU market, including cyber-security delegated act in force since 2025 |
| Gigabit Infrastructure Act (2024) | Faster, cheaper fibre/5G build-out (shared ducts, permits) |
| Digital Markets Act / Digital Services Act | Platform regulation affecting OTT messaging interoperability |
| EMF limits | Council Recommendation 1999/519/EC (ICNIRP), national ordinances usually stricter |
| Lawful interception | National criminal procedure and security-agency laws; ETSI TS 102 232 handover interfaces |
| Universal service | Minimum affordable access to voice + broadband |
3. Spectrum management
| Concept | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Frequency plan | National table of allocations: which band for mobile, broadcast, military, satellite, Wi-Fi |
| Licensing models | Individual licences (auctioned to operators), general authorisation / licence-exempt (Wi-Fi, SRDs), light licensing/shared (e.g. private networks) |
| Auction types | Simultaneous multiple-round ascending (SMRA), combinatorial clock (CCA), sealed-bid |
| Licence conditions | Duration (15–20 years), coverage obligations, roll-out milestones, technology neutrality |
| Spectrum caps | Limit per operator to avoid hoarding |
| Refarming | Moving a band from old tech (2G/3G) to new (LTE/5G) |
| Sharing/pooling | Licensed Shared Access (LSA), dynamic spectrum sharing, CBRS (US) |
| Digital dividend | 700/800 MHz freed by digital TV switch-over |
| EU harmonised bands for 5G ("pioneer bands") | 700 MHz (coverage), 3.4–3.8 GHz (core capacity), 26 GHz (mmWave) |
| SRD | Short-range devices (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RFID, key fobs) under harmonised power limits |
| Cross-border coordination | Neighbouring countries coordinate to avoid interference (important on the Adriatic with Italy, Bosnia, Slovenia, Montenegro) |
| Interference enforcement | Regulator investigates jammers and illegal transmitters |
4. Numbering and portability
- National numbering plan managed by the regulator: country code +385 for Croatia, trunk prefix 0, mobile and geographic ranges, special-service numbers (112, 116 harmonised social numbers e.g. 116 000 missing children, 116 111 child helpline), premium-rate ranges.
- Number portability for mobile and fixed numbers: customer keeps the number when changing operator; a central database/routing lookup is used before routing calls and SMS (Module 14). Porting time is regulated (days, in many countries one working day).
- MCC 219 is Croatia; MNCs identify operators. Roaming partners exchange network data in IR.21.
- E.164 and numbering resource: also short codes for A2P SMS (assigned by operators), alphanumeric sender IDs.
5. Consumer and market rules
| Topic | Facts |
|---|---|
| Contracts | Contract summary, max initial duration 24 months, switching rules, compensation for outages |
| Transparency | Advertised vs actual speeds (BEREC guidelines; regulators run measurement tools) |
| Quality of service | Regulators publish drive-test comparisons of mobile networks |
| Roaming and bill shock | Notifications, data-cap alerts, EU-wide limits |
| Wholesale access | SMP operators (Significant Market Power) must give access to infrastructure (copper/fibre, bitstream, termination rates, mobile termination rates (MTR)) |
| Mobile termination rates | Price one operator charges another for ending a call; EU-wide regulated "Eurorates" for voice termination (mobile 0.2 euro-cent/min, fixed 0.07 euro-cent/min from 2024, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/654) |
| Merger control | Competition law (EU Commission or national authority) — e.g. consolidation from 4 to 3 operators |
| Customer data & marketing | Opt-in for electronic marketing, spam fines |
| Complaints | Operator → regulator (HAKOM) → court / ADR |
6. The Croatian market in brief
| Item | Facts (verify the latest at HAKOM) |
|---|---|
| Country / MCC / code | Croatia, MCC 219, +385, EU member since 2013, euro since 2023 |
| Mobile operators (MNOs) | Hrvatski Telekom (HT, part of Deutsche Telekom group, T-Mobile brand), A1 Hrvatska (A1 Telekom Austria Group; ex-VIPnet), Telemach Hrvatska (United Group; includes former Tele2) |
| Market share (users of mobile telephony, Q4 2024, HAKOM) | HT about 44.4%, A1 about 34.1%, Telemach the remainder |
| Penetration | Mobile penetration over 120–130% (more SIMs than people, because of M2M, tourists, second SIMs); 2025 HAKOM figures around 128–136% |
| 5G | First commercial 5G in Oct 2020 via Dynamic Spectrum Sharing on existing spectrum; spectrum auction August 2021 for 700 MHz, 3.6 GHz and 26 GHz, 15-year licences, about HRK 359 million (≈ €48 million), HT bought the largest share; operators then launched real 5G |
| Fixed broadband | Incumbent HT dominant, fast FTTH build-out by HT, A1 and Telemach; cable TV and IPTV by Telemach, A1, HT (MAXtv) |
| MVNOs | Small segment (e.g. resellers/flanker brands run by the same groups) |
| Tourism effect | Huge summer roaming traffic and capacity peaks on the Adriatic coast; networks are dimensioned for seasonal loads |
| Regulatory approach | HAKOM runs market analyses (SMP designation), quality measurements, spectrum assignments, number portability, consumer complaints |
| Emergency numbers | 112 (unified), 192 police, 193 fire, 194 ambulance |
| Internet exchange | CIX (Croatian Internet eXchange) in Zagreb |
| Academic network | CARNET; .hr domain registry also at CARNET |
| Data protection | AZOP |
| Cyber | National CERT (CARNET CERT / CERT.hr), ZSIS/SOA for state security |
7. Compliance obligations inside an operator
| Obligation | What the engineer sees |
|---|---|
| Lawful interception (LI) | Mediation device, X1/X2/X3 interfaces, secure handover to agency |
| Data retention / CDR storage | Billing and traffic data stored for defined periods and protected |
| GDPR | Access control, pseudonymisation, deletion, DPO, DPIA for new services (e.g. location analytics) |
| Network security / NIS2 | Risk assessments, incident handling, audits, supply-chain rules |
| Emergency calls | Always route 112, provide location, keep PSAP links redundant |
| Number portability | Port-in/port-out processes, SLA |
| Quality reporting | KPIs, outage notifications to regulator |
| SMS and call fraud measures | Cooperating on blocking spoofed numbers, smishing |
| Net neutrality | No unlawful traffic discrimination |
| EMF compliance | Measurements around base stations |
| Accessibility | Services for persons with disabilities (e.g. total conversation) |
Remember this: the regulator does not run networks, it rations the scarce things (spectrum, numbers), sets the rules of the market (access, prices, quality) and protects users (privacy, emergency access, roaming). Engineers feel it as licence conditions, LI, GDPR and portability.