The London Economics study on growth and investment in the EU e-Communications sector compared data on investments in electronic communications throughout the EU, to determine which aspects of the regulatory framework might spur growth and investment. It concluded that regulatory uncertainty is the factor most detrimental to higher investment in telecommunications. The report also determined a number of factors that could create more certainty for potential investors, namely:
- clear legislation;
- timely implementation of legislation;
- comprehensive guidance on the interpretation of legislative requirements;
- harmonisation between Member States;
- clear communication from National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs);
- adequate appeals processes; and
- adequate NRA enforcement powers;
The Hogan & Hartson and Analysys report on the next steps in regulation of electronic communications recommends a set of 65 amendments to the existing regulatory framework. Almost half of these amendments concern consumer-protection aspects, such as better protecting privacy, security and confidentiality of online communication, better dispute-resolution procedures, more transparency and the publication of information.
With respect to market regulation, the authors recommend a swifter market analysis by NRAs and notifications to be subject to more precisely fixed timetables. They also suggest 'whitelisting' certain market situations, which should be subject to more liberal notification and consultation obligations. They do not propose any changes to either the concept or the definition methodology of Significant Market Power (SMP), but suggest that the Commission might be given the power, in exceptional cases and subject to strict rules, to define relevant markets in a comitology procedure without consulting the other institutions.
The three authors of the experts’ report on markets subject to ex ante regulation, in contrast, recommend cutting down the number of markets concerned from the present 18 to only 10:
- Retail fixed access which enables no more than two calls at the same time (low-capacity access)
- Retail fixed access which enables three or more calls at the same time (high-capacity access)
- Wholesale fixed-call origination
- Wholesale call termination on individual fixed networks
- Wholesale local-tandem transit
- Unbundled local loops
- Wholesale local-tandem broadband access
- Terminating segments of leased lines excluding those of high capacity
- Trunk segments of leased lines excluding those of high capacity
- The termination of incoming calls on individual mobile networks
