EU - MEPs reject plan for telecoms super-regulator

(OUT-LAW News)
A European Parliament committee has rejected the European Commission's plans for an EU-wide telecoms regulator. The MEPs have proposed an alternative body which will have fewer powers. Viviane Reding, the Telecoms Commissioner, has criticised the plan, saying that the alternative body would not be able to act quickly enough. The Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE) of the Parliament approved a report by Spanish socialist MEP Pilar del Castillo which proposes the new agency, the Body of European Regulators in Telecommunications (BERT) as an alternative to the Commission's proposed European Telecoms Market Authority (ETMA).

Labels: Telecommunications

EU - Internet phone calls getting popular in European homes

(RAPID)
An EU-wide survey of 27,000 households has revealed the emergence of new consumption patterns in telecoms services in Europe. Technological progress and competition have brought more choice to European consumers; 24% of households have given up their fixed telephone in favour of mobile phones while 22% of them are using their computer from home to make phone calls over the Internet. In an increasing number of Member States, European households are using wireless access to connect to the Internet, via mobile or satellite networks. Meanwhile, 29% of European households buy bundled telecoms and media packages, an increase of nearly 10% since last year. Nevertheless, the top priority for consumers in this fast evolving environment remains the quality of services.

Labels: Statistics, Telecommunications

EU - Commission consults on bringing down mobile phone tariffs in Europe

(RAPID)
The Commission has launched a public consultation on the future regulation of "voice call termination rates" in the EU. Voice call termination rates are the wholesale tariffs charged by the operator of a customer receiving a phone call to the operator of the caller's network. These tariffs are determined by the intervention of national telecoms regulators. At the moment the decisions of the national telecoms regulators result in very divergent rates across the EU. This distorts competition between operators from different countries and between fixed line and mobile phone operators. The public consultation on this proposal will be open until 3 September 2008.

Labels: Mobile_and_wireless, Telecommunications

EU - Telecom ministers dismiss plan for regulatory body

(IDG News Service)
The 27 telecommunication ministers of the European Union unanimously dismissed Commissioner Viviane Reding's plans to create a powerful central telecom regulatory body at a meeting in Luxembourg. They were more supportive of other elements of her reform plans, including the functional separation punishment with which she wants to threaten former telecom monopolies. They also backed her latest idea: to issue guidelines for the telecom industry on ensuring a fair return on investment and sharing of next-generation telecom infrastructure. See Council Press Release.

Labels: Telecommunications

CN - Reorganisation of China's telecoms industry

(Economist)
By any measure ? revenues, employees, customers ? it is the largest industrial reorganisation ever. And, reflecting how business is done in China, it was announced in the most modest way, with a posting on a government website on May 24th. The country's telecoms industry, with nearly 600m mobile subscribers, 360m fixed-line customers and $244 billion in revenue, will be reconfigured. Six companies will be collapsed into three, each spanning mobile, fixed and broadband services.

Labels: Mobile_and_wireless, Telecommunications

EU - Reding in race to shake up mobiles industry

(FT)
Cheaper overseas text messages, lower surcharges on mobile phone calls, a shake-up of the EU's radio waves - this striking "to-do" list marks the latest quest by Viviane Reding, the EU telecoms commissioner. She has repeatedly clashed with the industry over her regulatory efforts and while much of the Brussels machine has slowed in the final year-and-a-half of the European Commission's mandate, Mrs Reding seems determined to make the most of her remaining term.

Labels: Mobile_and_wireless, Telecommunications

European Commission launches public consultation on EU Roaming Regulation

(RAPID)
the European Commission invites feedback by industry, consumers and other interested stakeholders to review the functioning and effectiveness of the EU Roaming Regulation, which entered into force on 30 June 2007. According to the provisions of the Regulation, the Commission must report to the European Parliament and the Council in 2008 about the functioning of the new roaming rules and their effects. The public consultation aims to gather responses from mobile operators, businesses, consumer associations and any interested party by 2 July 2008.

Labels: Mobile_and_wireless, Telecommunications

Telecoms Rules: Belgium receives final warning on broadcasting "must-carry" rules

(RAPID)
The European Commission has decided to send a reasoned opinion (the second and final stage before the case is referred to the European Court of Justice) to Belgium on "must-carry" rules imposed on broadcasters in the bilingual region of Brussels-Capital. "Must-carry rules" require network operators such as cable companies or telecom operators to carry specified radio and TV broadcast channels and services where a significant number of consumers use them as their principal means to receive radio or TV broadcasts.

Labels: Cable_and_satellite, Telecommunications

EU - Telecoms Report: 8 EU Member States ahead of the US in broadband deployment

(RAPID)
Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden are world leaders in broadband deployment with penetration rates over 30% at the end of 2007, says the European Commission's 13th Progress Report on the Single Telecoms Market. These EU countries, together with the United Kingdom, Belgium, Luxembourg and France, all had broadband penetration rates higher than the US (22.1%) in July 2007. 19 million broadband lines were added in the EU in 2007, the equivalent of more than 50,000 households every day. The broadband sector generated estimated revenues of € 62 billion and Europe's overall penetration reached 20%. However, there is considerable scope for further consumer benefits from a reinforced single market, strengthened competition and reduced regulatory burden for market players.

Labels: Telecommunications

EU - It's better in Belarus, Brussels warned

(FT)
Belarus is better for business than Brussels, Boris Nemsic, head of Telekom Austria, said, in an out­spoken attack on the European Commission's efforts to cut mobile phone charges.

Labels: Telecommunications

EU - The Wireless Growth Potential: the Economic Case for an Ambitious Reform of Spectrum Management

(RAPID)
Speech by Viviane Reding. Member of the European Commission responsible for Information Society and Media. Joint dinner of the European Regulators Group (ERG) and the Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG) Gothenburg, 27 February 2008.

Labels: Telecommunications

EU - Watchdogs seek to thwart telecom authority plan

(Reuters)
Europe's national telecoms regulators will propose a beefed up role for themselves in a bid to thwart European Commission plans for a new pan-EU watchdog. he European Regulators Group (ERG) is expected to make public its proposal, to coincide with a European Parliament hearing on the European Union executive's plans to shake up the bloc's telecoms rules. EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding has proposed a new electronic communications market authority, but national watchdogs and some lawmakers say it could end up being a Brussels-based bureaucracy, isolated from markets.

Labels: Telecommunications

EU - Telecoms sector in broadband stats clash

(EurActiv)
Telecoms operators were embroiled in a statistical row, with the latest figures on broadband internet published by incumbent operators association ETNO appearing to contradict those provided by ECTA, the "competitive" operators group. The Commission will resolve the dispute on 19 March with the publication of a definitive set of data.

Labels: Statistics, Telecommunications

EU - Commission approves OFCOM proposal to de-regulate part of UK broadband market

(RAPID)
The Commission has approved the proposal of the UK telecoms regulator Ofcom to de-regulate the wholesale broadband market in some parts of the UK, covering around 65% of all UK homes and businesses This is the first time that a national telecoms regulator in the EU has identified different broadband markets in different geographic areas within a country and proposed lifting regulation in those geographic areas now characterised by effective competition. The Commission supports Ofcom's proposal, which is based on detailed economic evidence, to deregulate local exchanges with four or more actual or potential providers serving areas with more than 10,000 homes and businesses.

Labels: Telecommunications

EU - The Access Revolution: an evolution of regulation for competition

(RAPID)
Viviane REDING, Member of the European Commission responsible for Information Society and Media, KPN Annual Event, Brussels, 14 January 2008.

Labels: Telecommunications

EU - Europe's evolving single market for telecoms

(RAPID)
The future challenges of cooperation between the European Commission and National Regulatory Authorities. Speech by Viviane Reding, Member of the European Commission responsible for Information Society and Media. Dinner at the Conference "Is it the right TIME?"- The future regulation of the Telecom, Informatics, Media and Entertainment sector in the EU. Budapest, 26 November 2007

Labels: Telecommunications

EU - Telecoms Reform 2007: Better, more consistent rules for effective competition and sustainable investment

(RAPID)
Viviane Reding, Member of the European Commission responsible for Information Society and Media, 8th Annual ECTA Regulatory Conference, Brussels, 28 November 2007

Labels: Telecommunications

EU - Commission acts to reduce telecoms regulation by 50% to focus on broadband competition

(RAPID)
As part of its package of telecom reform proposals, the European Commission has adopted a new Recommendation on the markets where telecom-specific regulation should take place. The original 2003 version of this Recommendation listed 18 retail and wholesale markets where the Commission considers that specific ex ante regulation is required by national telecoms regulators to deal with competition problems. To reflect the progress made in the past years in most EU Member States in terms of competition and consumer choice, the Commission concluded that in principle there is no need for regulators to intervene in half of these markets. At the same time, this move will allow regulation to better focus on the main bottlenecks in the telecoms sector.

Labels: Telecommunications

EU - Commission proposes a single European Telecoms Market for 500 million consumers

(RAPID)
The Commission has adopted proposals for a reform of the EU telecoms rules. The Commission proposes strengthening consumer rights; reinforcing competition between telecoms operators; promoting investment in new communication infrastructures, in particular by freeing radio spectrum for wireless broadband services; and making communication networks more reliable and more secure, especially in case of viruses and other cyber-attacks. A new European Telecom Market Authority will support the Commission and national telecoms regulators in ensuring that market rules and consumer regulation are applied consistently, independently and without protectionism in all 27 EU Member States. To become law, the Commission proposals will now need to be approved by the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers.

Labels: Telecommunications

EU - Regulators and EU agree over splitting telecoms companies

(EurActiv)
At a meeting with top officials of the Italian regulatory authority for telecommunications, Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding was determined to introduce functional separation as a "last-resort remedy" in telecoms liberalisation. Reding reaffirmed her conviction that "national telecoms regulators should be given this tool that can promote both competition and investment". She stressed, however, that the disputed splitting-up of telecoms incumbents should be applied only as a "last-resort remedy to address the stubborn cases where other remedies have failed".

Labels: Competition, Telecommunications

EU - Better Regulation for a Single Market in Telecoms

(RAPID)
Speech by Viviane Reding, Member of the European Commission responsible for Information Society and Media, Regulators Group, Athens, 11 October 2007

Labels: Telecommunications

EU - Leading countries oppose a regulatory body for telecom markets

(Heise)
The dispute about the creation of an EU regulatory body for European telecom markets is escalating. In a joint letter to the EU commission, Germany and five other EU states have voiced their opposition to such a European super authority. There is no need for "institutional reform", they write in their letter, which was signed by representatives of German, French, British, Spanish, and Swedish economic ministries. A representative of the State Ministry signed on behalf of Luxembourg.

Labels: Telecommunications

EU - Start of reduced mobile phone roaming charges

(BBC)
Mobile phone companies have to cut by up to 70% the amount they charge customers for making and receiving calls between EU countries. Under the new EU rules, the companies have to offer customers now a new pricing structure, with cheaper "roaming" fees.

Labels: Competition, Mobile_and_wireless, Telecommunications

EU - Telecoms: Commission to take Germany to Court over its "regulatory holiday" law

(RAPID )
In the dispute over Germany's new telecom law, the Commission will refer Germany to the European Court of Justice. Germany has failed to remove new provisions in German law that could grant Deutsche Telekom a 'regulatory holiday' in spite of its dominant position in the broadband market. T

Labels: Telecommunications

Europas Telekommunikationsmarkt vor der Reform des EU- Rechtsrahmens

(Europa)
Viviane Reding, Member of the European Commission responsible for Information Society and Media, 13. Internationale Handelsblatt Jahrestagung "Telekommarkt Europa", Duesseldorf, 12 June 2007.

Labels: Telecommunications

EU - EC proposes using TV spectrum for WiMax

(CNET News)
Ultra-high frequency spectrum should be allocated to WiMax once Europe's analog television signals are phased out, the European commissioner for information society and media has proposed.

Labels: Telecommunications

EU - 116: Commission launches public consultation to identify Europe-wide freephone services

(RAPID)
The Commission has launched today a public consultation to identify common Europe-wide telephone services of social value that could benefit from single European freephone numbers starting with 116. The consultation will run until 20 May 2007. The public consultation is the next step after the Commission's Decision of 15 February requiring Member States to reserve the six-digit number range starting with 116 for services of social value in Europe. This Decision also reserved the first such number, 116000, for hotlines for missing children. The consultation seeks to identify other services that may also benefit from a single Europe-wide number. Once the Commission has decided which numbers should be reserved for which services, it will be for Member States to assign the numbers to individual organisations within their territory.

Labels: Telecommunications