Brussels, 21/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - As part of its efforts to push for greater competition in broadband access, the European Commission has decided to open infringement proceedings against Germany, France, Ireland, the Netherlands and Portugal in relation to the Regulation on Unbundling of the Local Loop.
Under this regulation, operators with significant market power had to publish from 31 December 2000 a reference offer (RUO) for unbundled access to their local loops and related facilities. The Annex to the Regulation sets out a minimum list of items to be included in a RUO, which is required to be sufficiently unbundled so that the beneficiary does not have to pay for network elements which are not necessary. Unbundled access includes access to the local sub-loop, so the same requirement for a sufficiently detailed offer concerning these sub-loops applies. These local sub-loops are important where the competing operator wants to be situated close to its clients, and are already a practical requirement for operators seeking to develop certain broadband technologies. The Regulation is directly applicable in all Member States and action can thus be brought before the national courts by any interested party. The Regulation also requires regulatory authorities to ensure that notified operators comply with their obligation under the Regulation. In the case of the five Member States) affected by Wednesday's decision of the Commission, there have not been adequate steps taken to ensure that the RUO of the incumbent operators are sufficiently unbundled, particularly in relation to local sub-loops.
The Commission has recognised that the regulation authorities in Member States are making significant efforts to unbundle. In the case of Portugal and Greece, where separate infringement proceedings had been opened in December, the failings with regard to an offer for shared access were quickly remedied by the national authorities and the Commission has therefore decided to close those proceedings. In Germany, a reference unbundling offer was published on 13 March 2002 and the prices for shared access were approved by the regulatory authority on 15 March 2002. Given that these actions were taken only recently, the proceedings concerning Germany on shared access will be considered by the Commission in the near future.