Opposition croissante à la proposition d'autorité européenne des télécoms[en] 

Last November, Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding proposed a wide overhaul of the European telecoms sector (see our Links Dossier). The plan aims to allow national regulators to use functional separation of network infrastructure as a remedy to tackle low competition. This is currently only possible in a few EU countries.

The overhaul also involves the establishment of a new EU authority meant to replace the European Group of Regulators (ERG), which brings together the national watchdogs. The new body, which would have stronger regulatory powers, would be ultimately controlled by the Commission and also assume the tasks of ENISA, the temporary EU agency dealing with the security of communication networks.

The other key reform proposed concerns the reallocation of parts of the radio spectrum freed up by the ongoing migration of television broadcasts from analogical to digital systems.

The European Electronic Communication Market Authority

Ironically labelled by ETNO Director Michael Bartholomew as some kind of "new disease" due to its acronym (EECMA), the proposed creation of the new has been opposed not only by the incumbent operators (represented by ETNO), but also by member states and regulators.

The latest blast came from the British regulator Ofcom, supposedly one of Commissioner Reding's closest allies in her battle to reshape the European telecoms sector.

The British telecoms market has often been regarded by Reding as a model. Indeed, it was the first one in which a regulator introduced full functional separation. Moreover, in February, Ofcom pioneered a geographical segmentation solution by splitting the national broadband market into four local sub-markets, and thus lifting regulation by rendering it unnecessary, a solution welcomed both by the Commission and by operators across Europe (see EurActiv 15/02/08).

Nevertheless, when requested to speak about EECMA, Ofcom Chief Executive Ed Richards, speaking in the European Parliament this week, reiterated his bitter point of view. The new body would increase bureaucracy and costs, meddling with activities already carried out by existing authorities, he underlined .

His comments echoed similar criticisms already raised by other regulators , the ERG as a whole, member states , incumbent operators and the European Parliament (see EurActiv 31/01/2008). 

The only support for the proposed body, albeit lukewarm, comes from emerging telecoms operators such as Tele2, which operates in several EU markets. However, Mikael Grape, who represents the Swedish company, stressed that the authority is "not the goal itself" and the real need was rather to have stronger regulators.

Functional separation and spectrum

Ofcom reiterated its full support for separation between network and service activities, which it said had brought Britain a "wave of new investments". Richards stressed that although this is not the only way to reach increased competition, separating activities "should be a remedy available but not compulsory for all regulators".

In ETNO's view , once made available this remedy will be exploited by every regulator across Europe, resulting in increased regulation.

The whole telecoms sector only finds common ground over the proposed spectrum reform, which is supposed to open a new interesting market for all telecommunications operators.

However, the measure is strongly opposed by broadcasters, who foresee their businesses endangered by the reform. In a conference organised in Brussels on Wednesday 27 February, the European Broadcasting Union presented a report showing the damages that the overhaul would bring to the sector. "If there is competition for access to spectrum, the significant public value of terrestrial TV services will be ignored," reads a press release .

The idea of increasing the ERG's powers to neutralise the Commission's proposal for a new authority are opposed by Commissioner Reding: "A stronger ERG, an ERG 'plus plus' is not a solution because has no legal personality," she said during a hearing in the European Parliament.

The new authority would be "fundamentally at odds with the principle of independent regulation," stressed Ed Richards of Ofcom.

The debate on functional separation and the new authority have the effect of delaying discussion about the really important topic for Europe, which is "the deployment of new generation networks," underlined Carlos Lopez Blanco of Telefonica.

"What is lacking is harmonisation in the regulators' action. This is a problem mainly for new alternative operators. We need stronger and more harmonised regulators. The authority is not the goal in itself," said Mikael Grape of Tele2.

The proposals on the reform of the spectrum "could severely impinge on our ability to fulfil our public service remit obligations with a direct impact on the future role of cultural diversity and media pluralism within the European Union," said Kerstin Brunnberg, director general of the Swedish public service radio.