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CEOs Urge commissionaire Reding to keep promoting competition in the EU's telecom markets

Proposals to restrict radically the areas where regulators can intervene are premature and risk re-monopolisation, says ECTA

Brussels, 20.04.07 – Viviane Reding, the EU's Telecom Commissioner, will meet on Monday 23^rd April with CEOs of a number of Europe's leading competitive telecom operators, who will push for a rethink of emerging Commission proposals to remove sector-specific competition rules from key areas of the market.

The operators, all members of the European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA), believe that additional time is required to allow the remaining barriers to competition in Europe’s fragmented telecom market to be broken down.

Evidence shows that many telecom markets are still dominated by incumbents and ECTA members fear that proposals to restrict radically the areas where regulators can intervene, is premature and risks a re-emergence of monopolies. In addition, the pro-competition organisation is seeking tough action to address bottlenecks that are threatening the broad emergence of high-speed services in particular.

Having already invested billions of euros installing competitive networks, ECTA members are concerned that, if regulation is removed before the market is working properly or is future-proofed, that dominant telcos will use their newfound freedom to squeeze competitors out of the market, reinstate their monopolistic position and restrict consumer choice. And this could affect not just existing services, but extend into the future, hampering Europe’s drive to become a leader on fast fibre access for example.

The CEOs’ meeting with Commissioner Reding comes at a critical time as the Commission is putting the finishing touches to the Review of the Communications Framework, which is now expected to be issued after summer.

Innocenzo Genna, ECTA Chairman and head of the CEO delegation, said, “The Commission’s recently released Implementation Report – backed up by ECTA’s Regulatory Scorecard – shows that, even though a lot of progress in introducing competition into European markets has been made, there is still some way to go”.

Genna added, “The ongoing debate about ‘more’ or ‘less’ regulation misses the point. What Europe needs is ‘better’ regulation to ensure fair and sustainable competition, a prerequisite to the development of electronic communications services in Europe and of a competitive economy. The key message we want to give the Commissioner is that regulators must first enforce the existing Framework effectively – only when that has happened should any wide-spread rolling back of market regulation be considered.”

Stefano Parisi, Fastweb’s CEO, said, “It is very important to play a strong hand when dealing with dominant firms. We shouldn’t be giving incumbents free rein over how they price and package retail services until they can demonstrate that they have implemented measures to allow others equal access to bottleneck facilities.”

Greek operator Forthnet’s CEO Mr. Pantelis Tzortzakis, welcomed Commissioner Reding’s openness and willingness to listen to the problems faced by European operators and said, “It is clear in countries like Greece that much still needs to be done to bring the benefits of competition to consumers. Restricting competition in national markets threatens the integration of the EU internal market, and potentially has negative impact on trade between Member States. In these circumstances, we need the Commission’s support more than ever as a pro-competitive watchdog of the Treaties and of Community Law.