Not only did RegTP, Germany’s telecom regulator, reject a Deutsche Telekom (DT) request to raise rates for access to its unbundled copper loop, the watchdog ordered the incumbent April 29 to cut those rates. RegTP’s decision reduced DT’s fee from 11.80 ($15.28) to 10.65 ($13.80). DT had sought a hefty increase to 17.40 ($22.54) (CD Feb 22 p6). Rivals said the order is “a step in the right direction” but not enough. “If Germany wants to play in the champion’s league of the industrialized nations, the monthly fee should be below 10,” said Axel Spies, a Washington attorney who represents the German Competitive Carriers Assn. DT’s setup fees are still too high, stifling competition especially in the broadband market, Spies said. A DT spokesman said the telco is “disappointed.” After several unsuccessful bids to boost its access fee, DT doesn’t see why RegTP again spurned the argument that the carrier’s costs have risen, the spokesman said. The decision can be challenged in the Local Administrative Court in Cologne, said Spies, but it’s unclear whether anyone will appeal or whether a stay would be granted. DT said it’s evaluating options.
The European Commission (EC) announced 2 telecom workshops set for June 8. The first, on premium rate services (PRS), will involve a study by Cullen International and WIK Consult. The 2nd workshop will feature input from key players on access to universal international and national freephone services. German competitive telcos view PRS as a key way to help consumers reach customer service, govt., TV stations and the like, said Axel Spies, a Washington lawyer for the German Competitive Carriers Assn. In 2004, revenue from such services was 7% of all fixed-line communications, and the “innovative power” of the market sector safeguards many jobs, he said. In Germany, Spies said, entire industry sectors such as banks and insurance companies have had to review their internal procedures to keep pace with customer demands. Interactive quizzes, votes via SMS and viewer surveys are very popular, he said. In addition, freephone and shared-cost services have led to better customer service and lower costs. But consumers must trust such services, Spies said. “Abuses must be prosecuted vigorously, but over-regulation of this market sector should also be prevented.” In the U.K., burgeoning “rogue Internet dialing” scams last year prompted the Office of Communications (Ofcom) to consider the need for better regulation of PRS.
CAMBRIDGE, U.K. -- Three unlicensed spectrum technologies emerging from labs could spark competition in wireless communications, speakers said Wed. at the Cambridge-MIT conference on the future of such communications. “Things can only get broader” as ultra wideband (UWB), broadband over powerline (BPL) and radio frequency over fiber (RFF) technologies near commercial use, said Jon Crowcroft, lead principal investigator for the Cambridge-MIT Communications Innovation Institute. Each still faces technical and regulatory challenges, speakers said.
CAMBRIDGE, U.K. -- While European regulators eyed major changes to their spectrum policies, a coalition of U.K. wireless networking and advocacy groups said current approaches may violate European human rights laws. With the concept of a “spectrum commons” (unlicensed spectrum) under consideration by the European Commission (EC) and the U.K. Office of Communications (Ofcom), Open Spectrum UK said regulators must justify licensing at all.
BARCELONA -- VoIP services should “definitely not” be regulated, but incumbent telcos should, Skype CEO and co- founder Niklas Zennstrom said here Thurs. Other speakers said regulation has a place in VoIP, though there’s no consensus on what it might be. The comments came on the 2nd day of the European Conference of Postal & Telecom Administrations’ European Electronic Communications Regulatory Forum.
BARCELONA -- Europe’s e-communications regulatory goals are valid but implementation and results of the new regulatory framework (NRF) are “unsatisfactory,” Finland’s regulator said here Tues. Saying the framework has major problems, FICORA Deputy Dir. Martin Andersson urged the European Commission (EC) to fix them. The Commission is reviewing its framework, with a report due mid-2006 on its effectiveness, an official said at the European Electronic Communications Regulatory Forum here Wed.
BARCELONA -- Europe needs “a fundamental reversal” in its handling of spectrum issues, a European Commission (EC) official said here Tues. Spectrum trading may be the “major next step” regulators must tackle, demanding political agreement, said Peter Scott, head of policy development for the EC Information Society & Media Directorate-Gen. Spectrum trading will involve a “conceptual leap” from govt. assignment of spectrum to monitoring and enforcement, Scott said at a European e- communications regulatory forum sponsored by the EC and the European Conference of Postal & Telecom Administrations (CEPT).
European telecom regulators must be vigilant about protecting competition in the VoIP and other emerging services markets following recent buy-backs by 4 incumbent telcos of their former ISPs, several industry sources said last week. Over the last couple of years, France Telecom re-acquired Wanadoo, Deutsche Telekom (DT) is in the process of reabsorbing T-Online (ISP), and Belgacom resumed control of Skynet. In Feb., Spanish incumbent Telefonica bought out its former ISP, Terra Networks. The reabsorptions aren’t necessarily bad news, but they could lead to competition snarls if regulators don’t head off discriminatory behavior, critics said.
Britain’s VoIP industry unveiled a code of practice for Internet telephony providers Tues. at a parliamentary reception in London. The code was created by the Internet Telephony Services Providers Assn. (ITSPA), which represents network operators, service providers and other businesses involved in supplying VoIP in the U.K. According to a draft, the code requires that ITSPA members: (1) Not promote use of their services for illegal purposes and take appropriate steps to guard against such uses. (2) Take reasonable steps to ensure that promotional materials comply with applicable laws and rules. (3) Warn residential customers that power failures or other failures of a customer’s underlying data network may cause voice-over-data-networks services to fail. (4) Advise residential customers of significant differences in service reliability between VoIP services and circuit- switched public telephony networks. (5) Give customers clear information when a service doesn’t provide access to emergency calls or isn’t as reliable as circuit-switched public telephony. (6) Notify customers when a member can’t offer number portability. The code of practice outlines information to appear in customer contracts and defines a process for handling complaints about code breaches. The Dept. of Trade & Industry (DTI) is “very positive” about VoIP’s potential benefits for business and consumers; it could spur more use of broadband, DTI’s Claire Hobson said. VoIP is one of the first major policy decisions the Office of Communications (Ofcom) tackled in its first year, said Andrew Heaney. Ofcom’s final decision on whether and how to regulate VoIP awaits European Commission guidance, he said.
LONDON -- British Telecom (BT) should be split up to end the “fundamental” conflict between its duty to its shareholders and its obligation to give rivals access to its network, a competitor said Tues. The Office of Communications (Ofcom), nearing the end of a strategic review of Britain’s telecom sector, has proposed requiring BT to provide “equivalence of access” and make drastic changes in its corporate behavior. But Energis CEO John Pluthero said efforts to resolve BT’s commercial dilemma could end up with the telco owning an entity opposed to its own goals and objectives. At that point, it might as well be severed, Pluthero told the parliamentary Trade & Industry Select Committee.