European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT)

The CEPT was established in 1959 and was originally founded by 19 countries where a single state-owned company had a monopoly in the postal or telecommunications sector. At that time, CEPT's activities covered commercial, operational, regulatory and technical standardization cooperation issues. Since 1992, however, it has dealt exclusively with regulatory issues affecting the entire postal and telecommunications sector. The organization currently has 46 members, with Hungary joining in 1990.
There are three committees operating within CEPT:

• The European Postal Regulatory Committee (CERP) is CEPT's organization dealing with postal regulatory issues, which assesses the impact of international policies on CEPT countries, liaises with the European Commission and organizations involved in postal regulation in order to develop a common position on all postal regulatory issues where possible
• The Electronic Communications Committee (ECC) is the CEPT's communications organization, which plays an active role in the technical preparation of CEPT decisions on the use of radio spectrum as mandated by the EU. It also develops harmonized solutions at European level in the areas of radio spectrum management, identification management and other areas of telecommunications in the form of decisions, recommendations and reports.
• COM-ITU is responsible for coordinating CEPT actions in the preparation and conduct of ITU activities at the Council, Plenipotentiary Conferences, WTDC, WTSA and other high-level events.

CEPT operates with the support of a permanent secretariat (European Communications Office – ECO).

The fundamental objectives of CEPT are to strengthen relations between member states, promote cooperation and contribute to the creation of a dynamic market in the European postal and telecommunications sectors.

Its tasks include:

• developing a common position on priorities and objectives in the postal and telecommunications sectors
• reviewing European-level public policy ideas and regulatory issues, including identification management and radio spectrum use
• promoting European harmonization efforts (including in the areas of radio spectrum and identification management); facilitating the coordination of regulatory efforts at European level, with a focus on practical cooperation between European countries
• Mediating between members and the European Commission, EFTA, or other relevant European organizations and industry representative forums (industry players, service providers, users, consumer protection, etc.)
• Formulating, adopting and communicating joint European proposals to the ITU and the UPU on issues related to the telecommunications and postal sectors
• Developing forward-looking proposals and scenarios for future regulatory challenges, with particular regard to technological and market changes