Brussels, 18/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic Interest (CEEP) is completely against the functional separation of networks, which the European Commission is preparing to include in its proposal for the reform of telecommunications rules on 13 November. Functional separation would damage prospects for deregulation by creating artificial business units in need of permanent regulatory oversight, and would lead to an increased fragmentation of the European market, CEEP says in a press release. New generation access networks, which are key to broadband development, are essential to a successful economy and should be able to develop in a positive and unhampered way, CEEP goes on. “Europe should devise a policy that triggers investment in the next generation of high-speed broadband infrastructure and invites sustainable competition,” it concludes. (I.L.)