Brussels, 01/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 1 March, the Commission called on the German telecommunications regulatory authority, BNetzA, to amend its plans for mobile termination rates (MTR) that are in breach of the specific recommendation that the European Commission adopted in 2009 (see EUROPE 9897). BNetzA has three months in which to work with the Commission and the European regulator in order to address the issue.
The proposal put forward by the German authority could result in MTRs that are at least 80% higher than in any other member state, the Commission states in a press release, saying that German telephone operators must not benefit from special treatment. It goes on to add that this would mean German consumers would pay unjustifiably high prices for their mobile calls. Also, it states, there is the risk that Portuguese, Italian, Spanish and Greek consumers could end up cross-subsidising German mobile operators. (MB/transl.jl)