European incumbent telcos are urging the European Commission (EC)...

such a service. Last month, the committee reviewed a working document that took into account comments from several member states. The group said 4 key issues must be addressed before launching such a service: (1) Ensuring that calls are completed from fixed and mobile networks, PBXs, public pay phones and hotels. (2) Ensuring citizens aren’t charged for freephone calls. (3) Ensuring there are adequate commercial arrangements between operators. (4) Making sure a specific service can be reached by dialing the same number in all member states. COCOM proposed that member states reserve the number range beginning with “116” for a future harmonized freephone service. It recommended the service be “of social importance” and “useful for a majority of citizens” in all member states. The service should be “strongly related” to subjects such as public security or safety, consumer protection and medical/social care, COCOM said. The nature of the service should be information, assistance and hotlines, such as in cases of disaster. Finally, the group said, purely commercial and entertainment services should be barred from using a 116 number. COCOM recommended that access code 116 be administered under the authority of the European Conference of Posts & Telecoms. But incumbents want the EC to understand the issues better before acting. “This proposal raises a series of technical issues linked to interconnection, to costs and to the fact that numbers in this range may be already used in certain member states for other kinds of services (like charities in France),” a spokesman for the European Telecom Network Operators’ Assn. (ETNO) said. He said the main question is whether a pan-European freephone would give users any value over what they already have at the national level. Last Sept., ETNO strongly recommended that no decision on the use of 116 be made without industry-wide consultations.