Brussels, 28/08/2012 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has called on the Polish telecoms regulator (UKE) to amend or withdraw its proposal to give alternative operators only limited access to Telekomunikacja Polska's (TP) fibre networks. It considers that such a decision could have an adverse effect on competition and the future development of fibre networks by limiting offers available to consumers and businesses. Neelie Kroes, European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, is of the view that: “Regulators throughout Europe, including Poland, must find the right balance between giving operators the incentive to invest in very fast internet and safeguarding competition. As a precondition for pricing flexibility, UKE should secure equivalent access for all operators to TP's network, so that competition can be sustained on existing and new networks”.
UKE's proposal concerns wholesale broadband access, through which alternative operators can offer internet services to their own end-users. Wholesale broadband access is granted at a higher network level than “network infrastructure access” (also known as “unbundling”) and allows the alternative operator to use a greater part of the incumbent's network. UKE has proposed not to regulate the prices alternative operators pay for wholesale broadband access to TP's fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network, meaning that TP would determine this access price. UKE believes that such pricing freedom will give an incentive to TP to further roll out such networks. However, under the Commission's recommendation on next generation access networks, a telecom regulator should only lift cost-orientated access pricing when functional separation (operationally separate business entities) or other strict non-discrimination rules have ensured equivalence of access for alternative operators. The Commission has therefore called on UKE to either mandate cost-orientated access to FTTH or to impose rigorous non-discriminatory access to the incumbent's network. By the end of the year, the Commission will put forward a series of measures that will provide lasting guidelines for the regulation of wholesale broadband access until 2020. The draft proposals will address issues including non-discrimination remedies, network access pricing and the conditions for pricing flexibility for next generation wholesale access products. (IL/transl.jl)