As the Body of European
Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) kicked off its stakeholders discussion
on the European Commission's revision of the Recommendation on Relevant Markets,
the European Telecommunications Network Operators (ETNO) association,
representing Europe's leading telecoms operators, welcomes this opportunity for
dialogue with regulators and with other stakeholders, reports DigitalSENSE Business News.
ETNO, DigitalSENSE Business News gathered,
believes that the ongoing review of the recommendation is a unique opportunity
to significantly reduce sector-specific regulation on electronic communications
networks and services. This, they said could in turn support investments and
growth in the telecoms sector, and help to level the playing field between the
different actors of the value chain.
DigitalSENSE Business News notes
that since the last review of this recommendation, the electronic
communications sector has evolved very rapidly into a competitive ecosystem
where different platforms and infrastructures compete with each other to
attract customers.
The transition to all Internet
Protocol (IP) networks and the rapid rise of 'over-the-top' service competition
moreover render a large part of current regulation addressing telephony access
and services redundant.
It was against this
background that ETNO welcomed the elements of the Commission draft that aim at
rolling back regulation in view of the evolution of markets, according to
ETNO's Director Daniel Pataki.
“However, we believe that
the Commission should move further along the de-regulatory path initiated in
2007. In particular, the right emphasis should be put on the presence of
alternative infrastructures as the key parameter to identify competitive areas
in broadband markets, and on the need to treat differently geographies with a
different degree of competition. For example, the impact of cable needs to be
fully recognized in all broadband markets, both at retail and wholesale level.
Where this is not the case, traditional telecom infrastructure providers are
prevented from effectively challenging competing platforms such as cable,” he
said.
Similarly, he said, there
is a need to ensure that any forward-looking analysis is future-proof, and that
it fully takes into account all future developments of infrastructure and
networks. For example, we expect that LTE will have a massive impact on the way
consumers' access broadband services, and will prove to be a driver for
sustainable competition in broadband markets, allowing a further withdrawal of
regulatory obligations.
Chuks Egbuna/GEE
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