Brussels, 29/10/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 29 October, the European Commission opened or went on with several infringement proceedings for failure to comply with rules on telecommunications. It opened a procedure (1st stage - letter of formal notice) against Germany for not implementing the Commission decision (2008/477/EC) on harmonisation of the 2500-2690 MHz frequency band in the EU for a vast number of radio services, and especially cordless fixed services. At the present time, Germany only allocates this frequency band to mobile services, which is an obstacle to the deployment of pan-European cordless broadband services. The Commission has also opened new proceedings against Poland, urging it to change the definition of a subscriber of telecoms services in its national law. At present, subscribers who have not signed a written contract such as pre-paid users, who represent more than half of Polish mobile subscribers, may be deprived of many rights provided under EU telecom rules. The member state was brought before the Court of Justice on this subject but has still not complied. The scenario for Romania is identical as this country still does not abide by EU rules that require the separation between those making telecoms rules and those providing telecoms services, despite the fact that legal action has been initiated against Romania. The Commission has therefore decided to initiate infringement proceedings and has sent the country a letter of formal notice . Poland and Romania risk a fine if the new proceedings are brought before the Court again. The Commission has also continued its infringement proceeding against the United Kingdom (2nd stage -reasoned opinion)) which does not provide its citizens with the full protection of EU rules on privacy and personal data protection when using electronic communications. The UK does not comply with the directive stipulating that it is prohibited to intercept or to survey communications without consent of users concerned.
Furthermore, in a letter sent to the Italian regulatory authority, AGCOM, the Commission comments on the draft decision by AGCOM to impose regulatory obligations on the retail market for access to telephony services and on the wholesale broadband markets. It mainly states its views on undertakings offered by Telecom Italia, which introduce significant changes in its internal organisation and are supposed to ensure more transparency and non-discrimination on the markets concerned. The Commission points out that these undertakings are part of the proposed regulatory obligations and are subject to national and Community consultations. (I.L./transl.jl)