EU Telecom Reform Package Said Welcome Move Toward Better Corporate Services
BRUSSELS -- The EU focus on consumer broadband services largely ignores business interests, said International Telecommunications Users Group (INTUG) Vice Chairman Nick White Thursday at the European Competitive Telecommunications Association conference. The current regulatory environment is slowing investment in information and communications technologies (ICT) and productivity compared with the rest of the world, he said. The new regulatory proposal, however, recognizes that transnational services need a different approach, White said.
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The lack of seamless telecommunications services across Europe is stifling business innovation, White said. Companies are trying to deal with the problem by consolidating their organizations, processes, suppliers, contracts and fixed and mobile services, and outsourcing some activities, but they're still not generating the same kind of innovation consumer services are, he said. There are no pan-EU mobile services, and only “constrained” pan- European fixed offerings, he said. There are inconsistent next-generation networks and next-generation access rules, he said.
INTUG backs several proposals in the EU regulatory reform package, White said. The concept of functional separation of dominant players is necessary because without it, providers can’t build seamless networks, he said. The organization also supports the creation of a European Telecom Market Authority. In terms of institutional structure, the European Regulators Group’s (ERG) consensus-based approach has failed to address business issues adequately because its scope isn’t consistent enough to provide a vehicle for a more pan-EU view, White said.
A huge market exists for transnational, seamless fixed and mobile communications, said Feyo Sickinghe, chairman of the Dutch Association for Competitive Telecommunications Operators. The business sector has raised the issue, most notably earlier this year, when British Telecom commissioned a report whose results it shared with the EC and national governments, he said.
The harmonization promised by the 2002 liberalization of the telecommunications market hasn’t happened, said a member of the Dutch association who asked not to be named. Giving businesses consistent quality of service and connection facilities will spin off value to the rest of society as well, he said. The EC regulatory package is headed in a good direction, he said.
The corporate market drove the agenda in 2002 to the point where the residential consumer market needed more attention, said ECTA Chairman Innocenzo Genna, who stressed he was speaking personally and not on ECTA’s behalf. Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding is particularly close to the consumer side, and her interest in issues such as international mobile roaming charges may balance the earlier emphasis on business interests, said Genna. In any case, revolving corporate customers’ complaints about lack of harmonization will likely be good for consumers as well, he said.
The “completely undeveloped” cross-border market for corporate services is a key problem, Reding said Wednesday in urging the sector to break away from its national mindset (CD Nov 29 p6). The ERG is already planning to set best practices for business access to networks, Chairman Roberto Viola said.