Brussels, 14/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - On 13 June, after a detailed inquiry, the European Commission called for the Dutch telecoms regulator (OPTA) to amend or withdraw a fixed and mobile termination rates proposal which would negatively affect consumers in the Netherlands.
Termination rates are the rates which telecoms networks charge each other to deliver calls between their respective networks. These costs are ultimately included in call prices paid by consumers and businesses. This is the first time that the Commission has issued a recommendation under Article 7a of the Telecoms Directive, which authorises the Commission to adopt other measures for harmonisation such as recommendations or decisions (binding) if regulatory approaches differ. “The proposed Dutch termination rates would be twice as high as under the approach foreseen under EU law, so I am now requiring OPTA to withdraw the proposal, or amend it. This is in the interests of both consumers and businesses, and consistent with OPTA's original proposal”, said Neelie Kroes, Commissioner for the Digital Agenda.
In 2010, OPTA had proposed cost-oriented fixed and mobile termination rates which were in line with the Commission's 2009 recommendation (which stated that termination rates at national level must be based solely on real costs borne by an effective operator to establish a connection). Further to an appeal brought by certain telecoms operators, these rates were overturned in August 2011 by the Dutch Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal which prescribed a different methodology that includes costs not directly related to call termination. Following this ruling, OPTA proposed new rates and in doing so triggered the Commission's 2012 investigation (see EUROPE 10553). The Commission considers these tariffs are twice as high as they should be in relation to real costs. “It may seem small. We are talking about a price reduction of just over one cent per minute. But if you add that up over billions of minutes of phone calls, you see that consumers suffer because of these higher rates”, said the spokesman for Neelie Kroes, Ryan Heath. BEREC (the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications) supports the Commission's position. (IL/transl.jl)