Brussels, 25/09/2000 (Agence Europe) - For the Commission, the price of lease telecommunication lines remains an obstacle to the creation of eEurope. Mario Monti, Commissioner responsible for competition, confirmed this when opening a public debate on Friday devoted to the preliminary findings of the Commission's leased lines investigation. The investigation demonstrates that prices applied for leased lines by incumbent operators may be excessive for low bandwidths in Luxembourg and Spain and also possibly in Belgium and Sweden. For medium bandwidth incumbents' prices are above average in Italy and Ireland, and possibly in Portugal, Belgium, France and Spain. For high bandwidth, the prices of the incumbents in Italy and Portugal appear to be above the average, with the UK possibly falling into this category though comparisons are not certain in this area. Mario Monti declared that these lines "provide the underlying transmission capacity for the Internet, data services, and voice telephony, which are now offered in liberalised markets for most Member States. If prices do not fall further, innovation and investment can be stifled and consumers will suffer, as access to the Internet will remain too expensive."
The investigation, initiated in the telecommunications sector on 27 July, relates to the provision and pricing of leased lines, mobile roaming services and the provision of access to and use of the residential local loop. According to a Commission press release, the first results confirm a spectacular rise in demand on the part of telecommunication businesses and Internet providers, as well as greater supply, but the latter still needs intensifying. The weight of revenue gained from leased lines in total turnover for incumbent operators varies between 1% and 17%. For international leased lines, the proportion of revenue in the total turnover ranges between 3% and 27%. Competition is growing in certain markets, and there appears to be a powerful competitive pressure at the retail level. The comparison of prices of national leased lines confirms very divergent ways of pricing by the incumbents. A working paper on the investigation is available on the site: http: //europa.eu.int/comm/competition/antitrust/others.