European Telecom Industry to Focus on Regulatory Overhaul in 2008
Overhauling EU e-communications rules will “concentrate most minds in Europe” in 2008, said Nigel Hickson, head of European e-commerce and telecom regulatory framework for the U.K. Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. The European Commission package’s hot-button issues include creation of a new telecom market authority, chances of dominant providers being separated functionally, and use of spectrum freed by digital switches (CD Nov 14 p4). The review figures in an ambitious EC agenda that also includes proposals on next-generation network (NGN) investment, and making DVB-H the official mobile TV standard.
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Debate has been heated over whether regulation helps or hinders NGN investment (CD Sept 17 p7). By summer, the EC hopes to issue guidelines on how new rules pushing investment in infrastructure apply to fiber investment in the local access network, Information Society and Media Commissioner Vivian Reding said last month.
The EC will start a discussion on the universal service obligation (USO). Proposals include bolstering the existing directive’s consumer protection by mandating distribution of more material on pricing and supply conditions, enabling access to e-communications services by the disabled, and beefier privacy rights. But the effort doesn’t aim to change the scope or concept of universal service in the EU.
The USO is seen as an incumbent’s duty, but the EC may have in mind separating access and service requirements by, for example, requiring a broadband pipe to every house, said Ilsa Godlovitch, European Competitive Telecommunications Association regulatory affairs director.
A recommendation on mobile and fixed termination rates is on the 2008 agenda, the EC said. Discussion at first was very “esoteric,” Godlovitch said, focussing as it did on the varied rates operators charge. The EC is looking at standardized rates because European tariffs are far higher than in the U.S. and elsewhere, she said. Godlovitch sees the issue rising high on consumer groups’ lists.
The EC agreed in August on a common EU approach to choosing and authorizing mobile satellite service systems. If the European Parliament and Council of Ministers approve the plan it could be adopted early next year, with the EU then seeking proposals by interested companies, it said.
Another issue likely to stir talk next year is repeal of the GSM Directive to open the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands for new 3G services. The proposal was approved by the EC and Council, but the Parliament has delayed action out of worry about its decision-making clout. Resolution is expected within months, EC and parliamentary sources said.
Another key debate is whether Europe needs a harmonized mobile video standard. Consumer interest remains low in commercial mobile TV services in Italy and Finland. The U.K. Office of Communications found that mobile TV had “low personal and even lower social value for most participants.” The only offer likely to draw consumers will be an ad-backed no-charge model seen in Japan and South Korea, said Nitesh Patel, StrategyAnalytics senior analyst for global wire services.
Other telecommunications items poised for 2008 include: (1) A decision on use of mobile phones aboard aircraft. (2) A proposal on whether to extend the international mobile roaming rate regulation to data roaming services. (3) A midterm review of the i2010 strategy for making Europe the world’s most knowledge-based economy.
The EC is awaiting a 2008 opinion by the European Court of Justice’s advocate general on its challenge to a German law granting “regulatory holidays” for new e-communications services, Reding’s spokesman said.