EU ‘FCC’ Said Among Hot Issues Still Unresolved
EC proposals for telecom regulatory reform may not emerge until Oct., we're told. The EC has maintained -- and Information Society & Media Comr. Viviane Reding’s spokesman repeated Thurs. -- that proposals arising from its extensive review of the 2003 e-communications regulatory framework (NRF) will be out this summer. But experts suggested the timetable has slipped due to debate on contentious issues such as EU-level regulatory coordination, including creation of an “EU FCC,” an idea backed Thurs. by the incoming Portuguese Presidency.
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Last Nov., Reding asked the European Regulators Group (ERG) to comment on proposals aimed at eliminating inconsistencies in the NRF’s adoption and use across EU member countries, particularly regarding competition remedies. She offered several scenarios: Giving the EC “veto” power over a national regulator’s proposed remedy, turning the ERG into a “super-regulator” independent from the EC or some combination (CD Feb 21 p10). ERG members generally back having greater authority, at least over pan-EU spectrum and satellite issues, but oppose a Commission veto over remedies (CD Feb 28 p10).
Establishment of a single regulator will be a priority for the Portuguese Presidency, Reuters reported this week. Digital TV, mobile roaming and use of EU-wide phone numbers for various services are “important dossiers for the future of the sector that include relevant issues such as the creation of a European regulator and the way this regulator interacts with other national regulators,” Public Works Minister Mario Lino reportedly told a news briefing. His office didn’t comment.
“The Commission will work closely with the Portuguese Presidency to ensure that telecom rules in the EU will in future be applied faster, more efficiently, more consistently and with less red tape,” Reding’s spokesman told us: “Concrete proposals will be tabled [made public] this summer.”
A delay of months isn’t surprising, since the EC pipeline includes 2 major studies, one on institutional pressures, such as whether there should be a Euroregulator and, if so, its possible form, said Peter Alexiadis, a Brussels lawyer and principal author of the study. The 2nd study, for which bids are due this week, is on the extent to which more harmonized remedies are desired across Europe, he said.
It’s only natural the summer deadline should slip, given “heated debate” not only on a super-regulator but also on functional vs. structural separation of incumbent telcos, said Alexiadis. International mobile roaming issues may be slowing progress, we're told. The EC is looking at longterm changes, most of which will come in 2010, Alexiadis said. A couple of months’ delay isn’t bad if it means getting all players to agree as much as humanly possible, he said.
The ERG has told Reding it buys the case for improving regulatory consistency but warned about adding layers of complexity to the regulatory process, the U.K. Office of Communications (Ofcom) said. Ofcom’s “main focus in practice is on improving the ERG’s own effectiveness in promoting consistency of regulatory activities” among its own members, it said.
“There could be significant benefits to consumers and the telecom sector” if all national regimes were brought up to an equally high standard, said Ilsa Godlovitch, European Competitive Telecom Assn. (ECTA) regulatory affairs mgr. ECTA members favor “any solution that delivers this, but consider that involvement of the ERG is a vital ingredient in an effective mechanism, as national regulators are likely to have the most practical experience of how to make regulation work to promote competition.”
A hybrid approach involving both the EC and ERG “could be a potential option, or an ERG+ if well-designed to minimize bureaucracy and avoid lowest common denominator outcomes,” Godlovitch said. But German alternative telcos oppose a super-regulator lacking knowledge of national markets, preferring instead an improved streamlined means by which national regulators notify the EC of proposed remedies, said attorney Axel Bingham on behalf of the German Competitive Carriers Assn. (VATM).
Whatever arrangement the EC picks, incumbent telcos want “no additional layer of bureaucracy,” said a European Telecom Network Operators’ Assn. (ETNO) spokesman. A one-size-fits- all approach to harmonizing remedies is not a solution, he said, because countries’ markets differ. ETNO members have been pressing the EC for deregulation; they doubt a new regulator is the way forward, he said. The single regulator idea wasn’t part of the NRF review launched last year, the ETNO spokesman said. Before any decisions occur, there should be proper consultation with all players, he said.