Luxembourg, 03/10/2000 (Agence Europe) - The Telecommunications Council, gathered this Tuesday, gave its political assent to the draft regulation by the Commission on the unbundling of the local loop. For its President, Christian Pierret, Secretary of State to the Minister for the Economy and Finances in France, this historic political agreement. "by make competition more dynamic, we are giving arms to make Europe exist politically in the field of the Internet and new technologies", he announced. Erkki Liikanen, Commissioner responsible for Telecommunications, put forward "the speed with which its proposal, which completes the liberalisation of telecommunications, was accepted". "It is a single example of the determination of the European institutions to adopt a significant piece of legislation and enforce the exact undertaking made in Lisbon", announced Per Haugaard, Mr Liikanen's spokesperson.
The proposal gain the unanimous support of the Member states, It must still be adopted in first reading by the European Parliament, and then formally by the Council, to enter into force on 1 January 2001. The United Kingdom did not reiterate its reticence over the relatively short time frame. Pascal Hewitt, the English Minister for e-commerce, stated that "this agreement will enable to offer greater competition, choice and lower prices".
The regulation foresees that the incumbent operators will have to pass on , on 1 January 2001, to the new entrants a price for the total or partial unbundling of the local loop, namely the last meters of the telephone line. Total access includes voice and digital (Internet) telephony, while shared access implies a choice between the two modes. Only one country, Germany has formulated a condition which modifies the initial text by adding a condition of motivation to the candidate entrant operator. It stipulates that the request by the latter "implies a necessary access and does not endanger the sectors competition".
The Commission proposal was introduced in July 2000. Total access to the local loop is already available ion certain member states, but at different prices. The Commission hopes that in 2001, the transparency of the market helping, the rental prices for access converge between the Member States. Total access is possible in Austria (EUR 12.4 per month), in Denmark (EUR 8.23 per month), Finland (EUR 5 to 25 per month), the Germany (EUR 13) , in the Netherlands (less than EUR 15.5 per month) and in Italy (EUR 13.6). It is announced for January 2001 in France, Ireland, Spain and England. Greece, Portugal and Belgium has not yet proposed anything. Sweden is preparing its legislation. As of 2001, all the countries will have to offer unbundled access, which will enable to develop faster broadband Internet as a priority. During a press conference, Christian Pierret, underlined the advances made by the United States, which already has 3 million subscribers to broadband Internet, while in Europe, only 250,000 are connected at this speed.
Then, the Council briefly carried out an initial exchange of views in the telecommunications package, aimed at adapting the present Community legislation on telecommunications. Commissioner Liikanen emphasised the need to respect the deadlines and to reach an agreement as quickly as possible.
The Member States showed themselves to be favourable to the Commission proposal to support that European cultural content on the Internet. In view of this, the multiannual "eContent" programme foresees the allocation of EUR 150 million over five years.
Furthermore, Erkki Liikanen discussed the progress achieved in the creation of the ".eu" domain name. He announced that the Commission would propose to the Council and Parliament, in a few months, a Communication and a decision to establish a legal framework for the register.