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Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Posts and Railway | |
Bundesnetzagentur für Elektrizität, Gas, Telekommunikation, Post und Eisenbahnen | |
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| Abbreviation | BNetzA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1 January 1998 |
| Type | Federal agency |
| Legal status | Established by Telecommunications Act 1996,[1] renamed by Federal Agency Act[2] |
| Purpose | Regulator and competition authority forprivatisedinfrastructure. |
| Headquarters | Bonn, Germany |
Region served | Germany |
President | Klaus Müller [de] |
Main organ | Board |
Parent organization | German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology |
| Website | www |
| Remarks | Established as Regulatory Authority for Telecommunications and Posts (Regulierungsbehörde für Telekommunikation und Post,RegTP) |
TheFederal Network Agency (German:Bundesnetzagentur orBNetzA) is the German regulatory office for electricity, gas, telecommunications, post and railway markets. It is afederal agency of theFederal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and headquartered inBonn, Germany.
In telecommunications, the agency has the authority over theGerman telephone numbering plan and other technical number assignments. It also regulates the telecommunication market, including termination fees and open access to subscriber lines and licenses telephone companies.
Inradio communications, the Agency manages theradio frequency spectrum, licenses broadcasting transmitters and detectsradio interferences. Licensingradio andTV stations (that is, content providers), however, is the task ofState authorities.[3]
It is also a rootcertificate authority forqualified signatures according to the German Signature Act.[4]
The Agency's responsibility in the post market include the licensing of companies for postal services and the observation of the market. It also regulates the market, assuring non-discriminatory access to some service facilities, such asPO boxes.
In the electricity and gas market, the Agency is responsible for ensuring non-discriminatory third-party access to networks and regulating the fees. The Agency is not responsible for licensing energy companies. These tasks remain with authorities determined byState law.
TheBundesnetzagentur has the following roles under the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG):
In the area ofrailway traffic, the Federal Network Agency is responsible for ensuring non-discriminatory access to railway infrastructure. This includes monitoring and regulating the train schedules, allocation of railway track slots, access to service facilities, etc.[5]
The agency is not responsible for technical supervision and licensing of railway companies. These tasks remain with theFederal Railway Office (Eisenbahn-Bundesamt, EBA).
In the 1990s, the telecommunications and postal services in Germany wereprivatized. In 1994, theDeutsche Bundespost, was privatised and split intoDeutsche Post andDeutsche Telekom, which remained under the supervision of the Federal Office for Post and Telecommunications (Bundesamt für Post und Telekommunikation, BAPT). When the market was finally opened to competitors on 1 January 1998, theRegulatory Authority for Telecommunications and Posts (Regulierungsbehörde für Telekommunikation und Post,RegTP) was established, superseding the Federal Office as the supervisor for posts and telecommunications.
When the government decided to improve competition for the energy and railway markets as of 13 July 2005 and 1 January 2006, it found that the Regulatory Authority's expertise in enablingopen access to telecommunication networks would also be useful in these infrastructure markets. To reflect these new competences, the authority was renamed toFederal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Posts and Railway (Bundesnetzagentur für Elektrizität, Gas, Telekommunikation, Post und Eisenbahnen,BNetzA).
To comply with the 2022 EUDigital Services Act, the agency took several steps, including the installation of a Digital Services Coordinator. The Coordinator is responsible for appointingtrusted flaggers, people or organisations who roam the internet looking for "illegal" content as requested by the act and, as interpreted by agency president Klaus Müller, for "hate" and "fake news".[6] Social media platforms are obliged to give trusted flagger reports preferential treatment. The first trusted flagger was the organisation "Respect!", appointed in October 2024 and formed as part of the foundation "Jugendstiftung Baden-Württemberg",[7] ultimately financed by theFederal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth.[8]
The Advisory Council consists of 16 members of the GermanBundestag and 16 representatives of the GermanBundesrat; the Bundesrat representatives must be members or political representatives of the government of a federal state. The members and deputy members of the Advisory Council are appointed by the federal government upon the proposal of the German Bundestag and the German Bundesrat.
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