European mobile operators launched a website to help users find the best international roaming rates this summer. The site -- http://www.roaming.gsmeurope.org -- lists prices from 75 operators EU-wide in 6 languages. It was set up by GSM Europe with the European Regulators Group. Mobile roaming tariffs are compared on older sites, including one rolled out months ago by the European Commission (EC), which wants to regulate roaming fees. Asked if GSM Europe’s site aims to head off price controls, Dir. Eirini Zafeiratou said it deals only with “transparency and does not address the EC’s regulatory proposal. It shows, however, that retail prices to consumers have decreased drastically over the past few months and there is choice and competition in the roaming market.” The site differs markedly from the EC’s, Zafeiratou said, calling the EC’s, refreshed every 6 months “outdated.” And the EC site “has selective ‘worst’ prices for 4-min. calls,” he said, noting that the typical call lasts 2 min.
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 EC should not keep regulators from promoting competition if it deregulates telecom markets, the European Competitive Telecom Assn. (ECTA) said Fri. On Wed., the EC is expected to unveil recommendations on whether some of 18 markets subject to possible pre-emptive competition rules under the e-communication regulatory framework should come off that list. Last week it the Commission seemed ready to remove 7, including several retail markets (CD June 23 p9). ECTA Regulatory Affairs Head Ilsa Godlovitch, emphasizing the general and preliminary nature of her comments, told us there’s strong evidence effective pro-competition regulation drives investment and broadband takeup, “as can be seen in countries such as the U.K. [first in Europe to liberalize] and France [impressive broadband growth following regulatory intervention].” Now isn’t the time to declaw regulators, but to ensure they have strong tools to force access where needed and to prevent the kinds of behavior that undermine competitors’ business plans and investments, she said.
The European Commission (EC) plans to deregulate 7 telecom markets, including those for local, national and international calls to retail customers, the Financial Times reported Thurs. The proposal, part of EC recommendations to update its e-communication regulatory framework (NRF), won’t be unveiled formally until June 28, but enough information on it was circulating Thurs. to prompt preliminary comments from several industry players.
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) isn’t proposing a rating system for the Internet, a spokeswoman told us Tues. In its 2005 annual plan, Dir. David Cooke said the BBFC is looking into “the implications of the growth of new media for our system of regulation.” No one, he said, “should assume that [inappropriate] material will be confined to established platforms such as film and DVD.” The board suggested a system like its film classifications, and invited the govt. to consider the issues. On Mon., The Times reported the BBFC was suggesting it provide the first Internet content ratings. But the board spokeswoman said the issue is film content, “mainly video on demand (VoD) which is still very much in its infancy.” In the U.K., DVDs must be classified by the BBFC, “and we are saying that when VoD becomes more widespread and more whole films are downloaded, there should be some labeling system which allows people to know what the content is and, therefore, avoid what they do not wish to see, and ensure that their children are not watching inappropriate films.” Privacy International Dir. Simon Davies was quoted as saying the board’s idea sounds “like the most stupid intervention since the registration of fax machines and photocopiers in communist China.”
The net neutrality debate hasn’t hit the fever pitch in Europe it has in the U.S., but it’s only a matter of time, officials said. Industry players and analysts “know that it will become an important issue over the next 6-12 months” as most telcos roll out Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) and many invest in content, said analyst Martin Olausson of Strategy Analytics. The EC, which says it doesn’t intend to regulate in this area, will nevertheless will discuss it in a June 28 communique on its review of the e-communications regulatory framework, sources close to the Commission said Thurs.
BRUSSELS -- ENUM technology could shake up traditional interconnection models, Wolfgang Reichl, dir. of Austria Telekom subsidiary OEFEG, said here Wed. Speaking at a mobile regulation and competition law conference, he said the technology -- which maps phone numbers to Internet protocol addresses -- was conceived as a “business card” letting users to list phone numbers and contacts in the domain name system. The idea never took off, and the focus is now on “infrastructure ENUM” as a global routing database for mobile operators and VoIP providers, he said.
BRUSSELS -- The European Commission (EC) will propose giving itself ultimate control over competition remedies set by national telecom regulators, Information Society & Media Comr. Viviane Reding’s spokesman said Tues. The move, among changes to be urged for the EC’s new e-communications regulatory framework (NRF), has drawn fire from the European Regulators Group (ERG). ERG views it as a fundamental shift in EC power, ERG Chmn. Kip Meek said Tues. at a mobile regulation and competition conference here. But mobile operators said if regulators can’t get things right, the EC should be able to step in.
BRUSSELS -- News that the EC had shifted its stance on regulating international mobile roaming rates took mobile industry representatives by surprise here Tues. In a late- afternoon panel at a mobile regulation and competition conference, European Telecom Network Operators’ Assn. Dir. Michael Bartholomew waved -- but didn’t share -- the text, leaving many to wonder what had changed from a controversial plan floated earlier. A source close to the EC later confirmed details have been “fine-tuned.” A Commission spokesman said the document -- not officially public -- merely details principles Information Society & Media Comr. Viviane Reding announced in Feb.
An EU proposal to extend data protection rules to police and judicial activities is expected to win strong endorsement from the European Parliament (EP) this week. The measure aims to plug a gap in privacy protection arising from the 1995 data protection directive’s inapplicability to matters involving law enforcement and judicial cooperation. MEPs’ enthusiasm for broader privacy guarantees, however, may not be mirrored by national govts., said to be dragging their feet in negotiations.
German regulator BNetzA Tues. closed its probe into a Deutsche Telekom (DT) DSL line resale plan after DT said its rebate to rivals reselling DSL lines would rise from 11.5% to 20%. DSL resale is “very important” in Germany, where DT by far runs the most DSL lines, said Bingham McCutchen attorney Axel Spies. Of German broadband connections, 97% are DSL- based, he said. Lauding DT’s hike, competitors said it came only via “tremendous pressure” by BNetzA, again showing “DT’s demand to roll back regulation in general"-- and its quest for a “regulatory holiday” as it builds its VDSL fiber network -- “is absurd,” Spies said on behalf of the German Competitive Carriers Assn. The group faulted BNetzA for not regulating upfront fees for DSL resale, which Spies said “are very steep and amount to 80 ($102.50) or more per DSL line.”