Brussels, 11/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 11 September, the College of European Commissioners formally and unanimously adopted, with no amendments, the ambitious proposals of the commissioner for the digital strategy, Neelie Kroes, aiming to create a genuine single telecommunications market.
Getting rid of roaming charges, simplifying the rules for operators, preserving the neutrality of the net and removing additional charges applied to intra-EU calls: no other reforms have gone so far in 26 years, the European Commission states. The legislative package (a regulation and a recommendation) will make Europe a “connected continent”, a vital condition for the future prosperity of Europe, as President of the Commission José Manuel Barroso stressed in his speech on the state of the Union the same day (see other article).
“This proposal will lower prices for consumers, Europe will be more and more digital (…). The strength of Europe's industrial base depends on collectivity. We need to use the digital agenda to solve economic problems by properly combining the digital agenda with trust and security of data, the Connecting Europe Facility, and ICT research”, Barroso said. “Ensuring the proper functioning of the telecommunications sector is no longer a matter for this sector alone: it is about supporting the sustainable development of all sectors”, Kroes added.
The telecommunications sector represents barely 9% of the European digital economy, but all sectors need effective connectivity in order to maintain their competitiveness at global level and offer services worthy of the name. But this is not currently the case. In spite of the successive reforms carried out by the Commission, the sector continues to function on the basis of 28 separate national markets, with the result that no telecommunications company carries out its activities throughout the EU and that both operators and clients face widely diverging tariffs and rules. Here are the fundamental elements of the reform:
Simplifying the rules. A single authorisation, rather than 28 separate ones, will be required of operators wishing to carry out their activities across the entire EU. A binding threshold to regulate the telecoms sub-market has also been set, which will lead to a reduction in the number of regulated markets. Lastly, greater harmonisation of the conditions under which operators can pay to access networks belonging to their competitors has been brought in, in order to provide competitive services.
An end to roaming charges. On 1 July 2014, roaming charges applicable to incoming calls when travelling in other countries of the EU will be removed. Companies will have two options: they can either offer subscriptions to apply throughout the EU (in other words aligning roaming charges on the national tariffs in the country of origin), thereby allowing competition at the national level to set prices, or allow their customers to choose a rival operator for roaming (without having to change their SIM cards).
Getting rid of charges applicable to intra-EU calls. The proposal will no longer allow operators to add charges for landline or mobile calls to other member states. The tariffs charged by companies for an intra-EU landline call must be the same as for national long-distance calls. For intra-EU mobile calls, the tariff may not exceed 19 euro cents per minute (not including VAT).
Internet neutrality. The blocking and limiting of content will be banned in order to guarantee users open and unrestricted access to the internet, irrespective of the cost or speed of their subscription. Operators will always be able to offer specialist services, such as internet television or video on demand, as long as these services do not slow the access speeds promised to other customers. If the company fails to respect the promised access speed, customers will be able to terminate their contracts.
New rights. Consumers will enjoy new rights, such as having a clearly worded contract with more comparable information. They will be able to terminate a contract if the promised access speed is not delivered or conclude contracts limited to 12 months. These rights will also be more extensive when it comes to changing supplier or contract. These rights will be harmonised throughout the EU.
Coordination of the spectrum. Increased coordination of the radio-electric spectrum (timetables, duration, conditions for allocating radio frequencies) will allow mobile operators to make more effective cross-border investment plans. The aim is to guarantee Europeans better access to the 4G and Wi-Fi mobile networks. The member states will, however, continue to be responsible for these matters and to receive the charges paid by mobile operators.
Greater security for investors. A recommendation on non-discrimination obligations and coherent methods of calculating costs constitutes the second section of the legislative package. The aim is to enhance investor security, increase their levels of investment and reduce disparities between the regulators. This means: 1) greater harmonisation and stability in costs that traditional operators can invoice to third parties, for access to their copper network; 2) a guarantee that those requesting access enjoy genuinely equal network access. If these requirements are fulfilled, wholesale access prices for the new generation broadband will be set by the market and not by regulation, argues the Commission.
Pilar del Castillo (EPP, Spain) was delighted with the Commission proposals but regretted the timing of (given the forthcoming elections in May 2014), which do not allow for thorough examination by Parliament, particularly with regard to the very controversial subject of net neutrality. Belgian Socialist Marc Tarabella believes that the Commission proposals will not guarantee net neutrality as the text allows for “unacceptable kinds of discrimination”, such as the fact that a large provider, such as Google, will enjoy priority on the network in exchange for colossal sums of money. The MEP also regretted that roaming would not be completely abolished by 1 July either, because operators would have the right in the subscriptions that the Commission suggests they propose to consumers to incorporate these roaming costs in other charges. (IL/transl.fl)