Network access charges imposed by BT unjustified, Court of Appeal rules

Network access charges imposed by BT on rivals were unjustified, Court of Appeal rules: "The Court rejected claims by BT that the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) had not acted in accordance with EU telecoms laws when it considered whether what it had charged rivals was acceptable. Instead it ruled that BT's prices had served to distort the market to the detriment of its rivals and consumers.
Virgin Media and Cable & Wireless were among the telecoms firms that had challenged whether BT had breached charging restrictions imposed on it by the UK's telecoms regulator.
Ofcom had conducted an investigation into the 'partial private circuits' (PPCs) market in 2004." 'via Blog this'

Margin squeeze modelling can be simple or complicated, but never trivial

Margin squeeze modelling can be simple or complicated, but never trivial - Analysys Mason Group: "The legal work surrounding margin (or price) squeeze allegations is extensive and complex. However, in these cases some kind of margin squeeze model will be used, which will form the foundation to prove or disprove the legal case. The margin squeeze model will present the underlying numerical comparison of costs, prices (revenue) and profit margins relevant to the business situation being tested. Margin squeeze models can be simple or complicated, and the choices made will always be argued to fit the case in question. These choices (which we structure as scale, scope, financial test and cost/price principles) strongly affect the complexity of the margin model, its inputs, assumptions, calculations and outputs" 'via Blog this'

Article 7a of the EU telecoms Framework Directive

Article 7a of the EU telecoms Framework Directive: first thoughts on second guessing a second guess - Newsletter – Analysys Mason Quarterly - News | Analysys Mason Group: "Commission has recently issued a significant number of 7a 'Phase 2' letters. Each of these requires BEREC to respond within six weeks. Insiders have told us that this is placing a significant burden on the NRAs (which provide the manpower to BEREC); given the restricted duration, the process requires NRA experts to make decisions (about whether they agree with the draft BEREC approach) within days, even if the relevant expert in that NRA is on leave or fully busy in their own country. Many NRAs do not have sufficient resources to contribute fully.
Secondly, BEREC has always agreed with the Commission – until last month, when it disagreed with half of the Commission's reasoning in a case related to mobile termination in France. This is probably a positive development overall, showing that the system of 'checks and balances' can work. Nevertheless, BEREC is making rapid decisions about issues that are important and have wider implications than the narrow cases involved, which could lead to bad precedents being set." 'via Blog this'

Brussels backs down on telecoms pricing - FT.com

Brussels backs down on telecoms pricing - FT.com: "Investors in large telecoms groups had feared further pressure on revenues amid need to spend more on fibre networks. Nick Delfas, analyst at Morgan Stanley, said the proposals remove the potential negative of falling prices and should help build investor confidence over time.
Kroes said the new policy aimed to boost the investment in fibre networks for fast internet connections by allowing incumbent telecom groups to maintain charges for access to their existing copper infrastructure and so guaranteeing stable returns." 'via Blog this'