Tag: telecoms regulations

European telecoms companies are asking Brazil to remove trade barriers to investment as the fast-emerging country embarks on an ambitious plan to provide broadband to up to 40 million users.

The incoming Spanish EU Presidency wants to extend universal service requirements to broadband Internet, making it compulsory for member states to make the service available in every corner of their territory. The move is aimed at improving Web access in rural areas but has raised a number of concerns for the telecoms industry.

More than half of EU countries are still worried about rules contained in the upcoming telecoms 'package' of legislation, which is expected to regulate the electronic communications landscape in Europe as of next year, EurActiv has learned.

The European Commission and EU member states agreed yesterday (13 October) on an amended text concerning the rights of Internet holders, which could pave the way for a final deal on the telecoms package.

EU ministers are to discuss the bloc's telecoms package at a meeting in Luxembourg today (11 June), after the draft bill was taken hostage last month by a political row with the European Parliament over Internet users' rights. Lengthy negotiations with the newly-elected assembly now seem increasingly likely.

European Union leaders backed risk-sharing pacts among operators on Friday (20 March) to pay the 300 billion euro needed to equip the bloc with high-speed broadband networks.

The European Commission will reopen the 'Pandora's box' of online copyright protection with a new legislative initiative on e-commerce, after attempts to filter Web traffic failed during negotiations over the telecoms package.

The European Parliament yesterday (24 September) approved a broad revision of the rules governing the Internet and telecoms sectors in a bid to boost competition and offer a wider range of services to consumers. Some provisions originally proposed by the Commission have been watered down. 

A proposal to create an EU telecoms authority with broad regulatory powers was dealt a heavy blow by the Parliament's Industry Committee, which voted instead to upgrade an existing group of national telecoms regulators with more limited powers.

The European Parliament is determined to see the reform of EU telecoms rules concluded before its term comes to an end in the second half of 2009, despite the new proposals put forward and clear disagreements with the Commission on the set-up of a new European authority and radio spectrum reform.

A Commission proposal to establish a European Telecoms Authority will prove "heavy and costly" and should instead be replaced by a committee of national authorities making decisions by qualified majority, said Paul Champsaur, president of Arcep, the French telecoms regulator.

The row over the proposed EU telecoms authority rumbles on, with Commissioner Reding defending her line in a new letter to national regulators. Meanwhile, the European Regulators Group (ERG) keeps on insisting upon "clear" independence from Brussels for the new body.

Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding will be grilled by EU telecoms ministers when they come together for a first discussion of the Commissioner's far-reaching proposals for an overhaul of EU electronic communications markets on Thursday.

The Commission's telecommunications reform is "substantial" and should "integrate very fast technological development and globalisation" in the field, writes André Ferron in the October edition of Confrontations Europe.

At a meeting with top officials of the Italian regulatory authority for telecommunications, Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding was determined to introduce functional separation as a "last-resort remedy" in telecoms liberalisation.

Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding faces tough negotiations with member states over the introduction of a European regulator for electronic communications. The proposal is going to be part of the Commission's review of the telecoms regulatory framework, which is due in mid-October. 

The Commission slapped a fine close to €152 million on Spanish operator Telefónica for preventing competition on broadband internet access over a period of five years by charging its competitors exaggerated wholesale prices. The penalty is twelve times higher than previous record fines involving telecoms companies. 

The Commission has begun legal proceedings against a German telecom law granting Deutsche Telekom AG a monopoly on a high-speed internet network.

The liberalisation of the European Telecoms in 1998 marked a milestone for the sector and anticipated the opening up of markets worldwide. However, the technological developments pushed the European authorities to carry out a reform of the common rules. The result was the second telecoms package adopted in April 2002.

Ahead of the Telecommunication Council, the CEOs of 30 incumbent telecommunication operators asked Commissioner Reding to let market powers take over the role of regulation in the sector.

Southeastern European countries are still far from EU standards when it comes to liberalisation of their telecommunications markets, broadband penetration and other parameters of modern information societies, a report finds. 

The Commission has opened a web page providing information on the charges mobile phone users have to pay when calling or being called between one EU country and another.

The European Commission has vetoed a decision by the German Regulatory Authority for telecommunication and postal services not to regulate telephone call termination services provided by alternative network operators (ANOs).

Swedish telecom company Tele2 presented on 4 November a report to Commissioner Liikanen pushing for a quicker implementation of the EU's telecom deregulation agenda