Issue no. 390 - 20 July 2008

• EU - MEPs reject plan for telecoms super-regulator (OUT-LAW News)
  A European Parliament committee has rejected the European Commission's plans for an EU-wide telecoms regulator. The MEPs have proposed an alternative body which will have fewer powers. Viviane Reding, the Telecoms Commissioner, has criticised the plan, saying that the alternative body would not be able to act quickly enough. The Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE) of the Parliament approved a report by Spanish socialist MEP Pilar del Castillo which proposes the new agency, the Body of European Regulators in Telecommunications (BERT) as an alternative to the Commission's proposed European Telecoms Market Authority (ETMA).

Issue no. 389 - 22 June 2008

• EU - Telecom ministers dismiss plan for regulatory body (IDG News Service)
  The 27 telecommunication ministers of the European Union unanimously dismissed Commissioner Viviane Reding's plans to create a powerful central telecom regulatory body at a meeting in Luxembourg. They were more supportive of other elements of her reform plans, including the functional separation punishment with which she wants to threaten former telecom monopolies. They also backed her latest idea: to issue guidelines for the telecom industry on ensuring a fair return on investment and sharing of next-generation telecom infrastructure. See Council Press Release.

Issue no. 385 - 21 March 2008

• EU - Telecoms Report: 8 EU Member States ahead of the US in broadband deployment (RAPID)
  Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden are world leaders in broadband deployment with penetration rates over 30% at the end of 2007, says the European Commission's 13th Progress Report on the Single Telecoms Market. These EU countries, together with the United Kingdom, Belgium, Luxembourg and France, all had broadband penetration rates higher than the US (22.1%) in July 2007. 19 million broadband lines were added in the EU in 2007, the equivalent of more than 50,000 households every day. The broadband sector generated estimated revenues of € 62 billion and Europe's overall penetration reached 20%. However, there is considerable scope for further consumer benefits from a reinforced single market, strengthened competition and reduced regulatory burden for market players.

• EU - The Wireless Growth Potential: the Economic Case for an Ambitious Reform of Spectrum Management (RAPID)
  Speech by Viviane Reding. Member of the European Commission responsible for Information Society and Media. Joint dinner of the European Regulators Group (ERG) and the Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG) Gothenburg, 27 February 2008.

• EU - Watchdogs seek to thwart telecom authority plan (Reuters)
  Europe's national telecoms regulators will propose a beefed up role for themselves in a bid to thwart European Commission plans for a new pan-EU watchdog. he European Regulators Group (ERG) is expected to make public its proposal, to coincide with a European Parliament hearing on the European Union executive's plans to shake up the bloc's telecoms rules. EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding has proposed a new electronic communications market authority, but national watchdogs and some lawmakers say it could end up being a Brussels-based bureaucracy, isolated from markets.

Issue no. 384 - 24 February 2008

• EU - Commission approves OFCOM proposal to de-regulate part of UK broadband market (RAPID)
  The Commission has approved the proposal of the UK telecoms regulator Ofcom to de-regulate the wholesale broadband market in some parts of the UK, covering around 65% of all UK homes and businesses This is the first time that a national telecoms regulator in the EU has identified different broadband markets in different geographic areas within a country and proposed lifting regulation in those geographic areas now characterised by effective competition. The Commission supports Ofcom's proposal, which is based on detailed economic evidence, to deregulate local exchanges with four or more actual or potential providers serving areas with more than 10,000 homes and businesses.

Issue no. 383 - 27 January 2008

• EU - The Access Revolution: an evolution of regulation for competition (RAPID)
  Viviane REDING, Member of the European Commission responsible for Information Society and Media, KPN Annual Event, Brussels, 14 January 2008.

Issue no. 381 - 8 December 2007

• EU - Better Regulation for a Single Market in Telecoms (RAPID)
  Speech by Viviane Reding, Member of the European Commission responsible for Information Society and Media, Regulators Group, Athens, 11 October 2007.

• EU - Commission acts to reduce telecoms regulation by 50% to focus on broadband competition (RAPID)
  As part of its package of telecom reform proposals, the European Commission has adopted a new Recommendation on the markets where telecom-specific regulation should take place. The original 2003 version of this Recommendation listed 18 retail and wholesale markets where the Commission considers that specific ex ante regulation is required by national telecoms regulators to deal with competition problems. To reflect the progress made in the past years in most EU Member States in terms of competition and consumer choice, the Commission concluded that in principle there is no need for regulators to intervene in half of these markets. At the same time, this move will allow regulation to better focus on the main bottlenecks in the telecoms sector.

• EU - Commission proposes a single European Telecoms Market for 500 million consumers (RAPID)
  The Commission has adopted proposals for a reform of the EU telecoms rules. The Commission proposes strengthening consumer rights; reinforcing competition between telecoms operators; promoting investment in new communication infrastructures, in particular by freeing radio spectrum for wireless broadband services; and making communication networks more reliable and more secure, especially in case of viruses and other cyber-attacks. A new European Telecom Market Authority will support the Commission and national telecoms regulators in ensuring that market rules and consumer regulation are applied consistently, independently and without protectionism in all 27 EU Member States. To become law, the Commission proposals will now need to be approved by the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers.

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