Brussels, 03/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 3 December, the European Commission called on the Finnish telecoms regulator (FICORA) to withdraw its plans to deregulate the wholesale markets for fixed voice call termination in Finland.
Finland's currently regulated fixed termination rates (FTRs) are the highest in the EU at 2.42 €-cents/min, compared to an average of 0.11 €-cents/min in all other EU member states.
The Commission has overruled FICORA's proposal to leave unregulated the rates, which Finnish operators charge other operators for connecting calls to customers on their respective fixed networks. Termination markets are monopolies since only one operator can terminate a call to its subscribers. Since FTRs are ultimately included in prices paid by consumers, leaving FTRs unregulated in non-competitive markets implies the risk of excessive pricing explains the Commission. The Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) fully supports the Commission's position in this case.
FICORA should have demonstrated that it would not be profitable for operators providing termination services to raise FTRs, for example, if this would cause consumers to substitute their fixed connections for mobile ones. (MB/transl.fl)