European leaders said Wed. they'll try to bridge the divide over retention of Internet and telecom traffic data by seeking accord on the substance of a measure first and then working out its legal basis under European law. But even as U.K. Home Secy. Charles Clarke touted the unpopular current Council framework decision on data retention -- the U.K. now holds the Presidency the European Commission (EC) said it will shortly unveil a package of data retention and protection measures. EC Vp- Justice, Freedom & Security Franco Frattini said the 2 proposals would move ahead in parallel while ministers sought agreement on the need for data retention, and its scope.
Last week’s London bombings intensified debate over the need for -- and wisdom of -- requiring retention of Internet and telephony traffic data. Home Secy. Charles Clarke set an emergency meeting tomorrow (Wed.) with other justice and home affairs ministers to discuss a “response to the terrorist threat.” He’s expected to push a controversial proposal to require retention of communications traffic data. In June, ministers provisionally backed the proposal, which is opposed strongly by the European Commission, communications services providers and civil libertarians. The proposal would impose a standard holding period of 12 months, leaving member states free to allow retention for 6-48 months, a Home Office spokeswoman said. The move would have scant impact in the U.K., where ISPs, under a voluntary code, routinely hold some subscriber data up to a year, the spokeswoman said. Authorities want data held because phone and Internet traffic information often has proven essential to criminal investigations, the spokeswoman said. Mobile phone records were critical to finding those accused of the March 2003 Madrid bombing and a high-profile U.K. child murder. The U.K., which now holds the European presidency -- and which was one of 4 countries that originally sought a data retention directive -- has concerns about a patchwork of national data retention laws, she said. After the July 7 blasts, ISPs contacted the Home Office to offer practical assistance, said the Internet Services Providers’ Assn. (ISPA) U.K. The National High Tech Crime Unit asked ISPA members to preserve data now on their systems, including content of e-mail servers, e-mail server logs and pager, SMS and MMS messages on network platforms, plus call data for fixed, mobile and VoIP. ISPA said it will encourage members to “focus on endeavors that will be effective in combatting terrorism,” but added that keeping data of no use to criminal investigations “will make the extraction of vital evidence even harder.”
London telecom networks weren’t damaged by terrorist bombings in the heart of the city Thurs., but many mobile phone users had problems caused by congestion. A British Telecom (BT) spokesman said Thurs. the explosions on one bus and in several Underground stations didn’t hurt its fixed-line infrastructure, but, due to congestion, it urged people to call only in emergencies. Mobile phone operators pleaded with customers in central London to avoid unnecessary calls. Onetel said its phone and Internet saw heavy traffic, with priority being given to emergencies. ISPs were dealing with a “great rush” for certain websites, such as the BBC and Transport for London, said a spokesman for ISPA U.K. He said e-mail appeared to be moving fairly smoothly, proving, as it did after Sept. 11, 2001, that the Internet is fairly impervious to such attacks.
Far from scaling back regulation, the U.K. telecom regulator will have to be more vigilant, having accepted a British Telecom (BT) plan to open its network to rivals to fend off an antitrust probe, competitive telcos said Thurs. Amid a flurry of consultations, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) yesterday unveiled more details of a tentative pact with BT, saying it thinks the incumbent’s undertakings likely will address key competition problems. Competitors, still pondering the complex settlement, said they worry BT will have to be muscled into making good on its promises.
Competitive telcos Tues. urged Germany’s telecom regulator to veto a Deutsche Telekom (DT) request for higher line-sharing rental rates. Last year, DT sought a monthly rate of 2.43 ($2.94) instead of the 4.77 ($5.76) it wanted to avoid European Commission (EC) antitrust action, the German Competitive Telecoms Assn. (VATM) said. Now, the incumbent again is seeking the higher rate for line-sharing, which lets rivals use the higher frequency spectrum of DT’s local loop to offer DSL products in competition with DT products. Earlier this year, the EC noted that Germany had fallen behind other European Union nations in broadband takeup. This was due partly to unfavorable line-sharing rules, said VATM, which commissioned 2 studies of its own. One found German monthly and one-time line-sharing fees are far higher than the average of the 10 best-priced European countries and could stand significant cuts. The 2nd study, which gauged margin squeeze between line-sharing prices and DT’s DSL end-customer product, found that even an efficient alternative telco can’t offer competitive broadband products. A win for DT will hurt Germany’s broadband market, VATM said, by: (1) Depressing delivery of broadband products, further weakening penetration. (2) Alienating potential investors and undermining current investments. (3) Triggering layoffs by competitors. (4) Leaving DT’s DSL product dominant in the retail market. (5) Reducing or ending competition among bandwidth, broadband content and services. In Feb., DT asked regulator RegTP for a hefty hike in its monthly charge for access to its unbundled copper loop -- which VATM strongly opposed (CD Feb 22 p6) and RegTP ultimately refused. That “was the carrot, and now comes the stick,” said Axel Spies, a German lawyer in Washington who represents VATM. Competitors fear RegTP will grant DT’s request because RegTP’s president doesn’t believe line-sharing is a viable alternative to full unbundling to let entrants reach end customers, he said.
European justice and home affairs (JHA) ministers agreed provisionally Thurs. to a 2-step approach to mandatory retention of communications traffic data. Meeting in Brussels, the Council said member states should first require communications services providers (CSPs) to retain fixed and mobile telephony data. Internet data and information about uncompleted phone calls would have to be retained starting later, letting CSPs that can’t now retain such data a chance to update their systems. Most of the delegations also agreed on a 12-month data retention period, with member states allowed to cut the time as low as 6 months in exceptional circumstances.
BRUSSELS -- European Commission (EC) oversight of content, TV, radio frequency management and Internet security would be viewed through the lens of convergence, under a proposal being presented today (Wed.) by Information Society & Media Comr. Viviane Reding. The perspective shift would mean “putting all the eggs in one basket,” Reding said here Tues. at a European Telecom Network Operators’ Assn. (ETNO) conference on next- generation networks (NGNs). Acknowledging the political risk, Reding said the convergence approach is the road to success in this “fascinating time.”
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s call for federal elections could hobble adoption of new telecom laws and cause uncertainty for the sector, a German telecom lawyer said Tues. After holding power 39 years, Schroeder’s Social Democrat party recently lost badly in North Rhine-Westphalia, the country’s largest state, said Axel Spies, a German attorney in Washington with clients in the industry. With a 28% approval rating, Schroeder stands a good chance of losing the election, expected to occur around Sept. 18, he said. A loss shouldn’t affect telecom regulator RegTP’s ongoing review, under the e- communications regulatory framework, of telecom markets, Spies said, but competitive telcos expect “significant delays” in release of new laws and rules. Amendments to the Telecom Act probably won’t be adopted as quickly as planned because of the need to set rules for reimbursing carriers for surveillance and eavesdropping and because the election campaign could slow things down. That would give Parliament a clean slat against which to debate the measures again after the election and restart the legislative process -- leaving telcos to deal with more unpredictability until year’s end, Spies said. Moreover, he said, the European Commission (EC) has threatened to sue Germany in the European Court of Justice over provisions in the country’s telecom act the Commission thinks don’t give the regulator enough discretion in controlling prices set by incumbent Deutsche Telekom. The Federal Ministry of Economics, RegTP and industry are working on a solution (parliamentary approval required) to head off a suit that “would put the entire German regime on price control in jeopardy,” Spies said. But it’s unclear now whether Parliament will be able to vote on the specific amendment by an end-of-June deadline set by the EC.
The EU now has no need for universal service rules covering mobile and broadband services, but someday could, the European Commission (EC) said Tues. Starting its first 3-year review of a 2002 universal service directive, the Commission said customers have widespread and affordable access to mobile technologies, with few using high-speed Internet access. Imposing universal access requirements at this point would harm rather than help them, the Commission said. But emergence of VoIP and other Internet-based services “challenges the current concept of universal service,” leading the Commission to call for an immediate long-term policy debate.
The U.K.’s 2 largest cable operators are coy about widespread reports they're in merger talks. The media frenzy began with a Sunday Times piece that was “pure speculation,” said an NTL spokeswoman, acknowledging that consolidation has been talked about for years. Telewest doesn’t comment on such matters, a spokeswoman said. But NTL said Mon. it sold its telecom operations in the Republic of Ireland to MS Irish Cable Holdings BV, an affiliate of Morgan Stanley, for 325 million ($417 million), a move its CEO said would let the firm focus on “growing and improving our U.K. communications and content distribution businesses.” The sale reportedly removes one of the last barriers to a $10.4 billion merger with Telewest. The merger is said to be necessary to let the firms compete with British Telecom in the telephony market and BSkyB in the pay-TV arena.