"I would be surprised if the recommendation on Next Generation Networks (NGN) was adopted before December," Martin Selmayr, spokesperson for Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding, told EurActiv.
Selmayr explained that the recommendation is linked to the wider telecoms package, which is currently on hold following a row between the Parliament and member states on protecting users' rights over the Internet (EurActiv 07/05/09).
Despite being a non-binding document, the recommendation is considered crucial by the industry to guarantee legal certainty and favour investment in optical fibre networks, the backbone of the high-speed Internet.
Brussels issued draft guidelines in September 2008 suggesting that the best way to spur investment in this key infrastructure was to guarantee a premium rate to compensate for the risk undertaken by investors. In other words, an operator would have to pay a higher fee to use the network of a competitor that has deployed the fibres (EurActiv 19/09/08).
On the other hand, the draft document suggested that the owner of the network should not refuse access to other operators willing to offer competitive services. The logic behind this provision is a desire to prevent the creation of new monopolies, which hamper competition and ultimately affect consumers.
After lengthy negotiations, the Parliament and the Council informally backed this approach. A compromise text called for guaranteeing network access for competitors by taking into account the risk incurred by the investor.
However, the collapse of the telecoms deal at the beginning of May risks reopening delicate negotiations, undermining the agreement reached on NGNs too.
France clamps down on Internet abuse
The stand-off at European level over the telecoms package did not prevent the French parliament from finally adopting this week the controversial Hadopi law, which seeks to clamp down on illegal downloading over the Internet.
The package's approval collapsed because MEPs wanted to clearly state that Internet connections could be suspended only after the intervention of a judicial authority. Instead, the French law will give this power to a new, non-judicial authority.
However, Reding did not see any incompatibility problems between the French law and the telecoms package as it has been approved by the Parliament. "An amendment to a European directive cannot change the sharing of competences between the EU and the member states. What I don't like politically is not always illegal," she said.
