Brussels, 23/02/2000 (Agence Europe) - Participants in a public hearing held on Tuesday in Brussels expressed an interest in the Commission's proposal for unbundling of the local loop (see EUROPE of 17 February, page 12). The spokesman for Commissioner Liikanen stated on Wednesday that "most of the 400 participants highlighted the benefits of unbundling, which would make it possible to increase competition in the local network and provide faster Internet connections through broadband access". Some participants, among which long-standing operators, nevertheless made a point of signalling the risk of a negative impact in the long term on investment in local infrastructures.
The spokesman added that the Commission is expected to finalise its recommendation for April, after analysing the written reactions of operators, which must be submitted no later than 7 March.
Unbundled access to the local loop, or "unbundling", is the leasing of the local loop by a long-standing operator to its competitors. The local loop is the circuit linking customers' facilities to the local operator's telephone exchange. The Commission wants to keep long-standing operators from raising their access prices as a means of slowing competitors' growth. Annexed to the discussion paper that served as the basis for the hearing is a statement by the Commission observing that current best practice in the Union for this line segment would be a price of around 5 euros.