Brussels, 04/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 4 April, ETNO, the association of incumbent operators, presented an expert report which confirms its position on the ideal framework for next generation access (NGA): it would be a wrong decision to lower wholesale prices for traditional copper-based networks as this will have a direct impact on the business case for NGA, says PLUM Consulting in its report Costing methodology and the transition to the next generation access. “Driving down copper prices would discourage NGA investment. Firstly, by encouraging customers to stay on copper. Secondly, it would negatively impact on the fibre and other NGA platform business cases, by lowering retail price levels for ultra-fast broadband products in a distortive manner”, states ETNO Executive Board Chairman Luigi Gambardella. The authors of the report note that the transition from copper to NGA involves increased competition between copper and fibre in the transition period and growing competition from wireless and cable. They say that the regulatory approach needs to adapt to reflect the increased platform competition, long-term investment horizons and uncertain demand for high bandwidth services.
The European Commission public consultation will run until 13 July, to consider the measures to be put in place to encourage the development of next generation fibre optic networks. The Commission will also publish guidelines on the application of non-discriminatory practices and costing methodology in order to assess the real cost of investment in NGA and to ensure that incumbent operators do not hold a dominant position. Last week, new entrant operators, represented by ECTA, called for structural separation and regulation of copper-based network wholesale prices to end the disproportionate and totally outdated advantages that they claim incumbent operators draw from these networks (see EUROPE 10349).
ETNO has also published its position on the proposed changes to the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) enforcement regime which is currently being drafted, as part of the public consultation launched by the Commission and which closed on 31 March. The new regime wants to take account of the changes brought about by the new digital environment. Taking the view that current rules are balanced and that there is no evidence of the need to change current provisions, ETNO feels that toughening the regime would be premature at this point. “Rather than a revision of the intellectual property rights enforcement regime towards a more repressive approach, what Europe needs is a reflection on how to best adapt intellectual property rights to new technologies”, says Caterina Bortolini, Chair of ETNO's Digital Single Market Working Group. She says that it is essential to increase the availability of legitimate content offers in order to respond to consumer demand. For ETNO, the current intellectual property rights regime is consistent with existing EU legislation, in particular the eCommerce and data protection directives, and strikes the right balance between the interests of right holders, consumers and internet intermediaries. Measures triggered by the intellectual property rights enforcement directive must be proportionate to the seriousness of the infringements, ETNO states, rejecting any initiative to increase access providers' control requirement. (I.L./transl.rt)