Regulatory uncertainty and lack of consumer demand are slowing fiber rollout in Europe, President Karel Helsen of the Fiber-to-the-Home Council Europe said in an interview Friday. Fiber networks offer business advantages, environmental benefits and the promise of more and better services for consumers, and Europe lags behind the Asia- Pacific region and North America in deployment, he said. But Europe is “on the verge,” because of change expected the next five years, he said.
EU telecom officials are expected to urge governments to speed digital switchover to make spectrum available for the new services needed to boost Europe’s economy. In draft conclusions to be approved Friday at the Telecom Council meeting in Brussels, ministers said access to the 800 MHz band will greatly increase broadband services throughout the EU, enhance the single market and spur productivity and competition to drive economic recovery. They also agreed a harmonized approach to use of the digital dividend could bring additional economic benefits and that there are advantages to a common approach to spectrum coordination with non-EU countries. Officials asked governments to facilitate, as far as possible, technical harmonization of the band, while remaining free to decide whether to assign it to e- communications or broadcast services, and to try to complete switchover in 2012. They also want states to beef up cross- border coordination to enable the 800 MHz band to be used for non-broadcasting services under national decisions, and to tackle interference issues. The Council invited the EC to come up with a proposal for harmonizing technical conditions of use for new services while recognizing that some countries will keep all or part of the band for high-power broadcasting or existing applications. The draft also urged the EC to consider options for using newer, more spectrum-efficient broadcasting transmission and receiver equipments standards.
Civil liberties, consumer and library groups renewed their opposition Thursday to a proposed broadcast treaty by the World Intellectual Property Organization. The proposal, under discussion for more than 10 years, has been whittled down by the organization’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights to cover only signal theft, but it continues to draw criticism from many sides. In draft conclusions circulated midday Thursday, committee Chairman Jukka Liedes acknowledged receipt of the first part of a report commissioned at the panel’s last meeting on the socioeconomic dimensions of the unauthorized use of signals. The committee “reaffirmed its willingness to continue its work on the protection of broadcasting organizations,” Liedes said. The panel directed WIPO’s secretariat to set up regional consultations on the goal, specific scope and object of protection of a draft treaty using a signal-based approach. But several groups said the effort is a waste of time. Agreement on the consultation subjects “has eluded this committee despite 10 years of negotiations,” Public Knowledge said. If the committee pursues the matter, it should ensure that the treaty doesn’t give broadcasters exclusive rights to the content of broadcasts, the group said. There’s no compelling reason for the treaty, said the International Federation of Library Associations, Electronic Information for Libraries and the Library Copyright Alliance. Any new layer of rights affecting content worries librarians because it imposes another barrier to access to knowledge, they said. The current draft treaty isn’t limited to signal protection, the Electronic Frontier Foundation said. It gives broadcasters and cablecasters intellectual-property rights over the use of transmissions after fixation of signals, rather than providing measures against intentional theft of the signals, EFF said. And granting incumbent broadcasters and cablecasters rights over Internet retransmission is likely to make copyright clearance more complex and harm new forms of citizen broadcasting such as podcasting, at a time when the future of broadcasting is unclear, it said. Broadcasters have enough treaty protection, the Center for Internet and Society said. At any rate, it said, webcasting and netcasting should be kept out of the treaty -- even if the agreement remains restricted to “retransmission” of broadcasts -- because webcasting differs greatly from broadcasting, CIS said. With studies showing that about 10 percent of Web traffic is video-streaming, making webcasting the fastest growing online application, “a strong case has to be made to show that an international treaty is required to protect and promote webcasting, which has not been done.” Another agenda item is a proposal for a treaty to protect audiovisual performances. Liedes’ draft conclusions reaffirm the committee’s commitment to an agreement like this. They lay out a work plan that includes consultations early next year on remaining issues and consideration of a future diplomatic conference. The WIPO Public Performance Treaty gives audio performers a right to payment when their recordings are broadcast or played in public, but the right wasn’t extended to audiovisual performers, Knowledge Ecology International said. It urged the committee to correct the correct the disparity. The committee meeting ends Friday.
BRUSSELS -- European telecom regulators should be paying attention to environmental matters but aren’t, said John Frieslaar, Huawei Technologies’ chief technology officer for key U.K. accounts. But representatives of national authorities on a panel at the European Competitive Telecommunications Association regulatory conference said environmental protection isn’t part of their mandate, though some are looking into the topic. Frieslaar said in an interview Wednesday that regulators should work with their counterparts in energy and other public-service sectors to cross-subsidize a more energy-efficient approach to providing services, instead of pushing the rollout of more networks. Also Wednesday, network operators urged the European Commission to make climate change a high priority.
BRUSSELS -- The economic downturn may have been the “spark we needed” to shift information and communication technologies to the top of European priorities, an official from the incoming Spanish EU Presidency said Tuesday. The EU is in the process of setting its digital agenda for 2020, and must answer several key questions about its future or fall behind, said Francisco Ros Peran, secretary of state for telecommunications and information society for Spain’s 2010 presidency. He spoke at the European Competitive Telecommunications Association regulatory conference.
“Ex ante,” (prior) rules aren’t needed for net neutrality, FCC Commissioner Meredith Baker said Tuesday at the ECTA regulatory conference in Brussels. Baker and Commissioner Robert McDowell are “very cautious” about moving from net neutrality principles to rules, she said. Everyone wants a free and open Internet and a free flow of content, but it’s unclear where the present effort to build a roadmap will end, she said. There’s agreement on the need for reasonable network management, and commissioners are looking at exempting “managed service,” she said. Chairman Julius Genachowski wants to extend net neutrality rules to wireless broadband as well, she said. Any rules will require increased transparency, she said, and many open questions remain. The FCC will work on net neutrality rules in the spring or early summer, after its broadband strategic plan goes to Congress in February, she said. The process of crafting a broadband plan is turning the commission into a new-age communications structure as it turns to blogs, tweets and other interactive media for feedback, Baker said. The exercise has already resulted in several insights, she said, including that the U.S. is already a broadband nation, where 92 percent of the population has access and 63 percent subscribe to services. More work is needed to boost broadband adoption, but it’s not clear what will entice more Americans to adopt, she said. The broadband plan is a beginning, not an end, she said. Another key issue is finding more spectrum for wireless, Baker said. The FCC’s suggested approach is to: (1) Set a new spectrum management framework that includes an inventory, identifying new bands and international coordination. (2) Leverage existing spectrum resources through a user-friendly database, improved secondary markets and spectrum and interference trading. (3) Encourage investment and promote innovation such as cognitive and software-defined radios and smart antennas. She predicted the proposed Comcast-NBC Universal deal won’t be the last, given the U.S.’s economic situation.
Allowing what are called regulatory holidays to telecom providers building next-generation networks violates EU law, the European Court of Justice said Thursday. The European Commission took Germany to court over legislation allowing regulatory relief for “new markets” and benefitting Deutsche Telekom’s fiber network. The high court, following an opinion by its advocate general, agreed with the EC that the provision unduly restricts national regulators from imposing competition conditions on incumbents. The ruling is significant beyond Germany because other incumbents have also sought regulatory breaks, Axel Spies, a Bingham McCutchen lawyer said for the German Competitive Carriers Association VATM. The decision strengthens national authorities by making it clear that they, not lawmakers, are responsible for analyzing markets and setting competition requirements, he said. Clearing away the contentious measure gives German investors greater certainty in planning, and there’s no appeal from the ECJ judgment, he said. The ruling affirms the main principle of EU telecom rules and policy for the past five years, the EC said: Competition -- not a “friendlier attitude to dominant operators” -- is the best way to move ahead.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso named his new team Friday, replacing current Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding with Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, and tapping new environment, internal market, competition and consumer officials. Reding moves to justice, fundamental rights and citizenship issues. Although the commissioners’ responsibilities aren’t yet clear, Kroes’s appointment is being closely watched by the telecom sector and digital rights advocates.
Months of wrangling over revamping EU telecom regulation ended Tuesday when the European Parliament overwhelmingly approved compromise language aimed at guaranteeing users’ rights on the Internet. A 510-40 vote on a provision replacing the divisive Amendment 138 followed approval last week by telecom ministers. As the legislative package moves to EU countries for adoption into national law, the governments are under pressure to get it right, various players said.
European Commissioner Viviane Reding is likely to retain her position overseeing telecom and media, possibly with additional responsibilities over copyright. With the ratification of the EU Lisbon Treaty, EC President Jose Manuel Barroso is to appoint commissioners, sources said. Barroso is awaiting several names before completing assignments, an EC spokeswoman said Monday.