The European Court of First Instance Tues. upheld a
Dugie Standeford
Dugie Standeford, European Correspondent, Communications Daily and Privacy Daily, is a former lawyer. She joined Warren Communications News in 2000 to report on internet policy and regulation. In 2003 she moved to the U.K. and since then has covered European telecommunications issues. She previously covered the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and intellectual property law matters. She has a degree in psychology from Duke University and a law degree from the University of Tulsa College of Law.
The EU seems bound for consensus on an international mobile roaming rule, though key provisions remain fuzzy, European Parliament (EP) members and an EC official said Tues. A joint hearing by the EP internal market & consumer protection and industry, research & energy committees found strong support -- even from some mobile operators -- for wholesale and/or retail price caps. Unresolved issues include how to set caps and whether they'll also apply to cross-border SMS and data transmissions.
A Deutsche Telekom (DT) request to hike local loop unbundling (LLU) fees has competitors seething. Last week DT filed a motion with telecom regulator BNetzA seeking 13% more a loop monthly to cover higher personnel costs, lawyer Axel Spies said Tues. The incumbent said the boost would encourage competitors to build out infrastructure of their own. If approved, the new rate will be 12.06 ($15.69). The LLU charge in Germany expiring in the spring is 10.68 -- already higher than in some EU countries, Spies said. “Given the international benchmarks for this important fee, the price increase should be rejected,” Spies said on behalf of the German Competitive Carriers Assn. (VATM). DT is wrong to cite personnel costs, because its staff includes former govt. officials whose positions are protected by law and members of strong trade unions, he said. As the telecom industry becomes leaner, DT shouldn’t be allowed to burden rivals with the expense of a failed personnel policy, Spies said. For them, the monthly LLU fee is the “mother of all charges,” he said: An increase would lead to price rises on telecom services across the board. The cap in the recent AT&T/BellSouth merger agreement for access to the local loop was equal to about 9 for a much larger territory than DT’s, Spies said.
French telco Free is seeking more than 500 million from France Telecom (FT) on claims that antitrust violations blocked it from rolling out ADSL services, costing it about
Deutsche Telekom (DT) denied reports it’s shelving plans for a VDSL fiber network. A Jan. 12 Financial Times Deutschland article had “persons familiar with the matter” saying the incumbent decided to offer IP-based services over a cheaper ADSL2+ platform. That’s correct, a DT spokesman told us, but the VDSL network isn’t being jettisoned. The plan was to deploy fiber in 50 cities -- it’s in 10 -- then assess options for the rest of Germany. DT is looking at how to use ADSL to provide IPTV services, he said. A report characterized the move to ADSL as a reflection of DT’s need to offer mass-market IPTV to counter its slowing fixed-line business. DT recently won a break from competition rules as it builds the VDSL network, thanks to a Telecom Act change allowing regulatory holidays for “new services.” “We're still on track” for that, the DT spokesman said. News about the ADSL network confirms what rivals have said for months, telecom lawyer Axel Spies said on behalf of the German Competitive Carriers’ Assn. (VATM). If ADSL services can be substituted for VDSL, VDSL services aren’t new and don’t warrant regulatory relief under the telecom law, he said.
A German antiterror law taking effect Thurs. gives 3 secret service agencies more access to telecoms’ and other companies’ records, Bingham attorney Axel Spies said. No specific suspicion is needed; access simply must be needed for “clearing up anticonstitutional activities,” he said on behalf of the German Competitive Carriers Assn. (VATM). Agencies can use tools that find locations of makers and recipients of mobile calls. The new law makes it easier to get data on individuals, plus customer and user data from telcos and others. There is parliamentary oversight, but the process has been streamlined, over protests by Germany’s data protection authority, Spies said. He predicted notable rises in requests for telcos and ISPs to deliver data and other information on customers, as well as a cost increase to service providers.
A rule capping European international mobile roaming rates could apply in June if the European Parliament (EP) and member states reach accord, Information Society & Media Comr. Viviane Reding said Thurs. Key aspects of the draft remain unsettled, but Reding urged lawmakers and govts. to move quickly. “This is a test case” that will let citizens judge EU institutions’ capacity to make good on promises or can be “stopped by the big industrial powers,” she told an EP hearing on implications of international roaming for consumers and industry.
Among German priorities in assuming the EU Presidency Jan. 1 will be progress on revising the EU e-communications regulatory framework (NRF), its work program says. Telecom experts disputed whether Germany’s tense relations with the EC over controversial national legislation poised to grant Deutsche Telekom (DT) a regulatory break for its new fiber networks could stymie that progress.
French telecom regulator ARCEP, unhappy with a France Telecom (FT) offer to provide fiber backhaul services to rivals, will investigate to see if tougher rules are needed. The move followed a public inquiry that heard alternative operators say FT short-changes them on access to fiber connections. The situation could have been avoided if FT could have been split functionally, said telecom attorney Winston Maxwell.
A fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) high speed broadband pilot was such a success that France Telecom (FT) will begin limited deployment over the next year, the telco said Fri. The trial ended with 11,500 homes able to connect, and FT with 500 customers. FT aims to sign up 150,000-200,000 customers before 2009 from a pool of 1 million potential subscribers, it said. Services include Internet access at speeds up to 100 Mbps, unlimited calls and HDTV and PC channels, to be offered to Parisians in March and adjoining regions in June.