Magyar Telekom executives regulated by US anti-corruption laws

Against corruption in telecoms: "A judge in the Southern District of New York denied three Hungarian nationals’ motion to dismiss charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) related to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). In SEC v. Straub (1:11-cv-09645), the SEC brought a lawsuit against the three individuals for an alleged bribery scheme involving government officials in Macedonia. Despite the fact that the Hungarian nationals worked for a Hungarian company and the alleged bribery occurred with foreign nationals outside of the United States, the SEC asserted that it had jurisdiction over the individuals because the company was traded through American Depository Receipts listed on the New York Stock Exchange." 'via Blog this'

Berec disagrees with EC call on Czech fixed termination fees

Berec disagrees with EC call on Czech fixed termination fees - Telecompaper: "The Bureau of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (Berec) thinks that the doubts expressed by the European Commission on the Czech regulator CTU's draft decision on market 3 are not justified. In November 2012 CTU notified the EC of its draft measure on market 3, for call termination on fixed networks. In December 2012, the EC issued its opinion on the draft, saying it would create a barrier to the internal market and may be incompatible with EU law. As part of the EC's phase II investigation, Berec issued its own opinion on the Czech regulator's proposal. Berec argues that the resulting price levels themselves cannot be a reason for the EC's doubts, as the CTU used the EU's recommended model for calculating fixed termination rates. Berec also disagrees with the EC that the modeled network was not entirely IP-based. The third issue is the EC's doubts over whether the costs in the model are based on an efficient operator. Berec recommends that these three elements of the methodology are more closely examined by the EC and CTU before a final decision is taken." 'via Blog this'

Brussels threatens to take governments to court to create single mobile market

Brussels threatens to take governments to court to create single mobile market | Business | guardian.co.uk: "The European commission has waded into battle on behalf of the region's beleaguered mobile companies, threatening to overrule national governments by taking them to court in order to enforce the creation of a single market for telecoms. In a move which could erode the power of national watchdogs like the United Kingdom's Ofcom and centre decision making in Brussels, telecommunications commissioner Neelie Kroes promised to drive through one set of rules for the industry across Europe's 27 member states." 'via Blog this'

Verizon v. FCC, No. 11-1355 (D.C. Cir.) - the net neutrality case

Verizon v. FCC, No. 11-1355 (D.C. Cir.) | FCC.gov: "FCC used its Second Computer Inquiry, 77 FCC 2d 384 (1980), affirmed in CCIA v. FCC, 693 F.2d 198 (D.C. Cir. 1982) to achieve competition in data networks; see NCTA v. Brand X Internet Services, 545 U.S. 967, 976-977 (2005).
In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress granted the FCC a central role in making and implementing federal policy regarding the Internet. Congress left to the Commission’s discretion the fundamental policy decision whether to classify broadband access as a “telecommunications service” subject to the common carrier provisions of Title II of the Communications Act or as an “information service” not subject to Title II. See 47 U.S.C. § 153(24), (53); Brand X, 545 U.S. at 976-977. Furthermore, in Section 706(a) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress directed the Commission to “encourage the deployment on a reasonable and timely basis of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans” based on competition." 'via Blog this'

Ofcom Advises EU of Intent to Slash BT Leased Line Prices in the UK

Ofcom Advises EU of Intent to Slash BT Leased Line Prices in the UK - ISPreview UK: "The communications regulator, Ofcom, has today issued a Draft Statement that formally notifies the European Commission (EC) of their proposal to cut the price that ISPs, mobile operators and businesses pay to BT for wholesale Leased Line services at speeds of above 1Gbps in all parts of the UK except London and Hull. Ofcom’s review of the country’s £2bn (annual) market for business telecoms services last year found that BT had Significant Market Power (SMP) in the “relatively new market” for 1Gbps+ and should thus be subject to tighter regulation (here), which included overall price caps linked to inflation that would ultimately result in a “real-terms price reduction“." 'via Blog this'

Net neutrality in Europe: Neelie Kroes: Your EU rights as a telecoms user - ...

Net neutrality in Europe: Neelie Kroes: Your EU rights as a telecoms user - ...: Neelie Kroes blog - Your EU rights as a telecoms user - European Commission : "A few years ago the EU agreed a package of measures for the E...

Just what does BT have planned for its 4G licence

Just what does BT have planned for its 4G licence: We drill into UK LTE • The Register: "BT could offer in-home LTE, backhauled over broadband whenever one was near a BT Broadband customer or OpenZone spot, and roaming to one of the operators the rest of the time. With the right pricing that could be a very competitive offering, and something the network operators should be concerned about" 'via Blog this'

Presentation for 19 February

Note we are meeting at both 10-12 in the usual room and 4-6pm in the smaller of the Law Common Rooms (to the right of 5S.6.17).
Your assignment is to keep with the reading for Weeks 4-5, to collect the reading from the Law office, and to make a presentation of 3 slides outlining telecoms regulatory development in 2009 in your chosen country: Australia, UK, Turkey, Finland, Netherlands, France, Germany. The link to the country reports is here (Published October 2010): note that country reports have been replaced by a confusing mess of statistics in 2011/2012.

Finally! Bidding starts in UK 4G auction

Finally! Bidding starts in UK 4G auction | Watching the Connectives: "After many twists and turns (see here for background), the UK auction of spectrum in the 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz bands started 23 January. Ofcom announced that the bidders are:
Everything Everywhere Limited
HKT (UK) Company Limited (a subsidiary of PCCW Limited)
Hutchison 3G UK Limited
MLL Telecom Ltd
Niche Spectrum Ventures Limited (a subsidiary of BT Group plc)
Telefónica UK Limited
Vodafone Limited" 'via Blog this'

Internet access declared a basic right in Germany

Internet access declared a basic right in Germany | Sci-Tech | DW.DE | 27.01.2013: "Germany's Pirate Party, which supports freedom of information, sees the ruling as having "far-reaching consequences" for policy-makers, as stated by Pirate Party national executive board member Klaus Peukert in his blog. He notes that if Internet access is classified as a basic need, it has to be taken into account in unemployment benefit payouts. It also means that any proposals to cut off Internet access for notorious copyright infringers have to be laid to rest. "The federal and state governments now have a duty to treat Internet access as a basic need and to close the gaps in the broadband network across the country," Peukert added." 'via Blog this'

Competition Appeal Tribunal: BT Application for Extension in Ofcom Ethernet Case

Competition Appeal Tribunal - Ruling (Application for Extension of Time): Worht reading for rules of procedure in CAT cases:
"“BT” sought a prospective extension of time in which to file its notice of appeal against certain determinations by the Office of Communications pursuant to Rule 8(2) of the Tribunal’s Rules. For the reasons set out in the Ruling, the application was refused on the basis that the circumstances relied upon by BT did not constitute exceptional circumstances as required by Rule 8(2)." 'via Blog this'

Ofcom sets out proposals to tackle mid-contract price rises

Ofcom | Ofcom sets out proposals to tackle mid-contract price rises: "Of the options put forward, Ofcom’s proposed approach is to intervene to allow consumers to exit their contract without penalty if their provider introduces any price increase during the term of the contract. Alongside this, Ofcom would expect providers to be clear and upfront about the potential for price increases and of the consumer’s right to cancel the contract in the event of any price increase.
The consultation follows an Ofcom review into the fairness of certain contract terms. This review and Ofcom’s analysis of consumer complaints has identified issues concerning the clarity and effectiveness of current rules which has led to consumer harm.... Ofcom proposes to modify (General Condition 9.6) to allow consumers to withdraw from a contract without penalty, if providers increase prices during the contract term."
Note - this is in response to several major companies raising prices unilaterally to customers on 12-24 month contracts - from September 2011. The change would not take effect until June 2013 at earliest...'via Blog this'

T-Mobile loses test case on holiday mobile data charges

T-Mobile loses test case on holiday data charges - Telegraph: "T-Mobile, which has now merged with Orange and rebranded to become Everything Everywhere, has been ordered to pay back over £500 of roaming charges racked up by lawyer Angela Walsh. The litigation partner at City firm Abrahams Dresden had called T-Mobile to cancel her phone contract, but had been persuaded to stay with the company after an upgrade was agreed.
However, data roaming capability was never discussed by the salesperson on the call, and when Ms Walsh flew to Australia she did not know that her new phone was capable of downloading data while she was abroad.
When she returned she discovered that T-Mobile had disconnected her phone and charged her £533.11. Judge Monty Trent ruled that the conversation on the phone between Ms Walsh and T-Mobile had concluded the contract between them, and terms and conditions would have had to be agreed then." 'via Blog this'

State aid: Commission adopts new Broadband Guidelines

EUROPA - PRESS RELEASES - Press Release - State aid: Commission adopts new Broadband Guidelines: "The European Commission has adopted revised guidelines for the application of EU state aid rules to the broadband sector. These guidelines will help Member States achieve the objectives of the EU Digital Agenda. Taking into account the extensive submissions from all stakeholders, they contain in particular a reinforcement of open access obligations and improved transparency rules. They also follow the principles of the Commission's State Aid Modernisation (SAM) initiative, which aims at facilitating well-designed aid targeted at market failures in order to achieve growth-enhancing priorities, while simplifying the rules to allow for faster decisions." 'via Blog this'

“Sender-pays” rule doesn’t necessarily increase telecom investment

“Sender-pays” rule doesn’t necessarily increase telecom investment | Ars Technica: ""My results contradict the hypothesis that the ability to charge more for international Internet traffic is all that is needed to build out telecommunications infrastructure in poor countries," Dourado concludes. "High international telephone collection rates have not led to greater buildout and adoption of telecommunications infrastructure in the past two decades. It seems unlikely, therefore, that adopting a sender-pays model for Internet traffic would increase buildout of Internet infrastructure today."
Rather, Dourado suggests the quality of a nation's telecommunications network is dependent on the quality of its domestic institutions. Some countries have telecommunications industries that efficiently put new revenues to work on network improvements. Other countries have corrupt or incompetent telecommunications incumbents that will upgrade their networks slowly no matter how much money they're given. He argues that regulatory reforms, not more cash, are needed to improve global network quality." 'via Blog this'

Kroes: Balancing investment and competition in European broadband market

EUROPA - PRESS RELEASES - Press Release - Speech - Balancing investment and competition in European broadband market, Commissioner Kroes: "A framework that gives the right "buy or build" signals. To offer the stability and consistency needed for long-term investment. And all that without unnecessary intervention, without unduly constraining flexibility.
The 12 July package will secure truly equivalent access by alternative operators to incumbent networks. Because that is probably the most important guarantee of sustainable competition.
A true level playing field then allows us to focus on targeting regulation efficiently; and allowing for flexibility where that would encourage investment.
I am not talking about regulatory holidays. This is about giving investing operators the chance to experiment with prices of NGA products — but only as long as strong competitive safeguards are in place. In the face of uncertain demand, such flexibility is essential." 'via Blog this'

OECD: Telcos Overcharging By Five Orders Of Magnitude

OECD report analyzed: "So where does all the money from this overcharging go? The telcos aren’t posting record profits. Most of the money from this overcharging goes to maintaining the old obsolete telco network, which is now being used to prevent the rollout of the Internet, which is vastly more efficient and isn’t top-down-controlled. A further lot of it goes to maintaining staff who haven’t changed to a net-centric way of thinking – unofficial but reliable sources tell us that Deutsche Telekom alone has a surplus of at least 100,000 employees.
"But it is not in the public interest to safeguard jobs that don’t provide value to society (if it were, we’d still be plowing the fields by hand and destroying Spinning Jennies). If we were able to align the telco industry with the public interest, the telco industry would be decimated in size, but next-generation entrepreneurs would be enabled, as would economic growth in new sectors. That’s in everybody’s interest. Well, everybody’s interest except the telco industry’s.  'via Blog this'

Report on Telecommunication Market and Regulatory Developments

"On 18 June 2012, the European Commission published its report on the Telecommunication services, based on the implementation of the revised EU Telecom Framework (see IRIS 2009-6/6, IRIS 2009-1/5 and IRIS 2010-1/7). According to the report, four member states still need to implement the framework into their national laws (Belgium, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia). The Commission assesses the work and functioning of the national regulatory authorities (NRAs), the revenues and investment of the electronic communications sector, the status of the broadband connection, the voice and other e-communication services (including broadcasting), the EU Radio Spectrum policy programme and the consumer’s interest (including the issue of net neutrality)."

Concerning net neutrality, the Commission notes that member states have issued rules on transparency and quality of services while implementing the Telecom framework. Some members states have adopted guidelines or parliamentary resolution on the topic. Others have delegated to their NRAs the task of setting up a general approach in that field. The Netherlands is the only member state to have adopted a specific law on this issue (see IRIS 2012-7/32).

In conclusion of the report, the European Commission identifies several areas that need improvement (e.g. the functioning and independence of NRAs, the protection of consumer rights and the validity of specific tax on operators).

'via Blog this'

Crisis ahead for European mobile operators: data growth dangerously slow

Crisis ahead for European mobile operators: data growth dangerously slow, and network costs unhealthily low - Insight - News | Analysys Mason Group: "In our recently published Wireless network traffic worldwide: forecasts and analysis 2012–2017, Western Europe has the lowest growth rate in mobile data out of eight global regions. We forecast that mobile data in Western Europe will grow at a CAGR of just 29% from 2012 to 2017, equivalent to a growth multiple of 3.6. At a global level, we predict that mobile data will grow by a multiple of 5.5, equivalent to 41% CAGR, a little ahead of what we predict for Internet traffic as a whole." 'via Blog this'

Fixed broadband quarterly metrics 2Q 2012

Fixed broadband quarterly metrics 2Q 2012 - Data sets and trackers - Content | Analysys Mason Group: "Figure 1: Fixed broadband lines in service, by region, September 2001–June 2012 [Source: Analysys Mason, 2012] 'via Blog this'

EC asks Finnish telecoms regulator to improve access conditions to fibre network

Europe's Newsroom - Commission asks Finnish telecoms regulator to improve access conditions to fibre network: "The European Commission has called on the Finnish telecoms regulator (FICORA) to amend or withdraw its proposal on regulated access to dominant operators' broadband networks. If implemented, FICORA's plans would damage competition and hamper investment in competitive broadband services. This could limit current and future offers available to consumers and businesses. This is the third time that the Commission has issued a formal recommendation under Article 7a of the Telecoms Directive." 'via Blog this'

EC public consultation on revision of recommendation on relevant markets

FICORA - European Commission launched a public consultation on the revision of the recommendation on relevant markets: "On 16 October 2012, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the revision of the recommendation on relevant markets which was last updated in 2007.
The recommendation identifies the markets which are relevant for significant market power and which the National Regulatory Authorities regularly have to review. Relevant markets are markets which are susceptible to ex ante regulation and crucial for Europe's competitiveness.
Consultations are particularly sought from public authorities, Member States, the electronic communications industry, research institutions and universities, and consumer advocacy groups. Other interested parties are also invited to submit their contributions.
The public consultation is open until 8 January 2013. Further information about the consultation and how to submit contributions is available in English on the Commission website." 'via Blog this'

US supreme court finalizes gift of spying immunity to the telecom giants

US supreme court finalizes gift of immunity to the telecom giants | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk: "When civil liberties groups sued the telecoms on behalf of their customers whose communications had been illegally accessed by the government, federal courts began ruling against the telecoms, holding that the immunity they already had under the law would be unavailable to them, because the allegations against them amounted to knowing, deliberate violations of the law. As one federal judge put it in refusing to dismiss a lawsuit against AT&T: "AT&T cannot seriously contend that a reasonable entity in its position could have believed that the alleged domestic dragnet was legal."" 'via Blog this'

Net neutrality in Europe: Response to European further network neutrality co...

Net neutrality in Europe: Response to European further network neutrality co...: Dear sirs I am writing to reply to your “On-line public consultation on "specific aspects of transparency, traffic management and switch...

Regulatory Asymmetry? The Competition Between Telcos and Other ICT Players

Regulatory Asymmetry? The Competition Between Telecommunication Operators and Other ICT Players: "Jnl of Euro Competition Law & Practice Volume 3, Issue 5, Pp. 452-464. Laurent De Muyter*: "Under EU law, telecommunication operators must open their main resources (networks) to service providers including other ICT providers under far reaching and sometimes conceptually inconsistent conditions. But they have limited access to the resources operated by the latter (content, data, handset, software). This distorts competition, hampers network related investments, and makes high bids less plausible in future spectrum auctions." 'via Blog this'

Recent Uk competition cases in telecoms

"The Application of Competition Law in the Communications and Media Sector: A Survey of 2010 Cases: Journal of European Competition Law & Practice first published online May 15, 2011"
'via Blog this'Recent UK competition cae

ETNO's WCIT proposals are not as bad as some say, they're worse

ENDitorial: The ETNO's WCIT proposals are not as bad as some say | EDRI: " ETNO's proposals would squeeze every ounce of innovation and competition out of global Internet networks. Goodbye Internet, hello Minitel.
The concept sounds quite friendly and just a little esoteric: “Sending party pays” (SPP). That sounds fair, until you realise that the sending party already pays. It sounds fair until you realise that SPP has always been the principle in the mobile world, and the result of this principle is tens of billions of Euro wasted by citizens on untransparent, unjustified and, frequently, unjustifiable charges. Years of regulatory action has finally led to the most egregious of these problems finally being solved in Europe." 'via Blog this'

British Telecom could be overcharging taxpayer £100ms for rural broadband

British Telecom could be overcharging taxpayer hundreds of millions of pounds - Telegraph: "according to a leaked Whitehall briefing, officials at the Culture, Media and Sport department have been told the broadcasting giant is charging a mark up of up to 80 per cent to introduce faster broadband in rural parts of the country. The document, compiled in the summer by a consultant who was working with the department, accuses BT of using “pseudo wholesale” figures to justify its costs. Experts said that if the forecasts are correct, BT's subsidy could be cut by £400million and £500million and still produce the same result. Experts say it could mean that home owners in rural parts of the country have to overpay through their council tax bills for the faster broadband.
Last night Margaret Hodge MP, the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, said she was shocked by The Telegraph’s disclosures and said her committee would examine the claims as part of a new inquiry." 'via Blog this'

Role and procedures of BEREC

Role and procedures of BEREC: "Articles 7 and 7a of the Framework Directive the findings of market definition, SMP assessment and – if applicable - the proposed remedies have to be notified to the Commission and other NRAs. The aim of this EU notification, the so-called Article 7 procedure, is to contribute to the development of a single market in electronic communications by ensuring co-operation among NRAs, and between NRAs and the Commission.
Once an NRA notifies the Commission of its proposed measure the case is assessed by the Commission within one month. At the end of this period and provided that the notified measure does not raise “serious doubts” as to its compatibility with EU law, the Commission may decide to comment. Regulators should take account of these comments before adopting the draft measure in question. When the Commission expresses serious doubts and opens a so-called Phase II, its investigation period is extended for two months more in the Article 7 cases, or for three months more in the Article 7a investigations. If this situation occurs, BEREC has to issue an opinion,,," 'via Blog this'

House of Lords - Broadband for all - an alternative vision

House of Lords - Broadband for all - an alternative vision - Communications Committee: "In our view, the benefits of opening up the restrictions on PIA are likely to be significant, particularly were policy to be re-oriented towards the establishment of open access fibre-optic hubs, as we advocate. Removing the restrictions on PIA may, of course, have knock-on effects for the effectiveness and coherence of other aspects of the overall regulatory edifice...234. ...since May 2011, Ofcom has had the power by virtue of Article 12 of the Revised EU Framework Directive, transposed into UK law, to impose regulatory obligations with regard to infrastructure sharing in the broadband market without reference to SMP." 'via Blog this'

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'

EC challenges regulatory remedies: Netherlands wholesale call termination / Denmark wholesale SMS MT

From T-Regs: The European Commission has, for the first time, 'proceeded all the way' through the Art 7a FD procedure and has formally issued a Recommendation to an NRA requiring it to amend or withdraw proposed regulatory obligations ('remedies'). The case at hand concerns the OPTA (Netherlands) notification for wholesale fixed call termination and wholesale mobile call termination.

The European Commission's press release is accessible via:http://tre.gs/4n 

OPTA has also issued a press release, accessible via: http://tre.gs/4p

Update 25 June 2012: The European Commission's Recommendation has been published: European Commission Recommendation C(2012) 3770 in Case NL/2012/1284

Diplomatic Arm-Wrestling Over Scope Of WCIT (ITU Treaty)

Diplomatic Arm-Wrestling Over Scope Of International Telecommunication Regulations Treaty | Intellectual Property Watch: "Among the hotly debated high-level issues was that if ITU recommendations become mandatory instead of voluntary. This could shift ITU standards into quasi-legal norms and give them privileges over standards from other standardization bodies. Yet the 47-member European regional group, represented by the Conférence Européenne des Administrations des Postes et des Télécommunications (CEPT, one of six regional groups at ITU), warned the ITR could “not be used to change the non-binding nature of ITU recommendations.” Other issues of contention are additional provisions on security, from anti-spam provisions to the obligation to provide a calling line identification (CLI), potentially also for internet telephony, to allow tracking misuse. 
Internet telephony using SIP protocol is seen by some ITU member states as siphoning off revenues from classic telephony providers, as a statement by Iran’s ITU representative made clear. African countries want to see cost-based transit, termination, and roaming rates, transparency, and an effort from member states to act against asymmetries of charging. The US favours a completely hands-off approach, and Europe is trying to get compromise on administrations pushing for economic efficiency, competition and price transparency for customers.

Compromise about the paragraph on charging for international telecommunication services given the diametrically opposed proposals, on one hand leave charging to the market (as proposed by the US and also CEPT) versus having regulators involved in the pricing on the other hand (as proposed by the Arab states, but also Russia) are still on the to-do list for the last prep meeting in June. From the point of view of the IP address managers, what is even more scary are considerations with regard to state intervention on routing. 'via Blog this'

Europe's Broadband Implementation Strategy

Europe's Information Society Newsroom: "Commission has now published a Staff Working Document. It summarises the current state of play in national broadband plans and fosters a mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge on good practices between countries by assembling examples of national implementation measures."
'via Blog this'

Competition Appeals Tribunal slashes mobile phone termination rate cuts

Competition Appeals Tribunal slashes mobile phone termination rate cuts, going beyond Ofcom's rates - Competition Policy International (CPI): to 0.65p per minute by 2015 (about 0.8eurocents)

'via Blog this'

Commission suspends discriminatory Danish SMS price regulation

EUROPA - Press Releases - Digital Agenda: Commission suspends discriminatory Danish SMS price regulation and starts an in-depth review: " expressed similar concerns regarding the discrimination of SMS coming from operators providing telecommunication services in other Member States. Howev"

'via Blog this'

UK broadband speed climbs 22 percent

UK broadband speed climbs 22 percent | Networking | ZDNet UK: note that this reflects a shift to fibre in cities...

'via Blog this'

Li Ka-shing’s Hutchison finally sees 3G profits

BBC News - Li Ka-shing’s Hutchison finally sees 3G profits:

'via Blog this'

For real? How mobile oligopolies work...France

For real? « Chillin'Competition:

'via Blog this'

UMG vs Veoh - what content giants can do to start-ups

UNCENSORED - A personal experience with DMCA - UMG vs Veoh - minglewing:

'via Blog this'

NBN Co unclogs sign-up pipeline • The Register

NBN Co unclogs sign-up pipeline • The Register:

'via Blog this'

Submarine Cable Map

Submarine Cable Map:

'via Blog this'

ECJ confirms that special (lower) tax on France Télécom was state aid

“to tax him with injustice”*: ECJ confirms that special (lower) tax on France Télécom was state aid : contentandcarrier:

'via Blog this'

National judges' implementation seminar 28 November

Agenda here: 'via Blog this'

COCOM agenda for 46th Meeting

See the agenda online for Member States' meeting: 'via Blog this'

Commission presses 16 Member States to implement new EU telecoms rules

EUROPA - Press Releases - Digital Agenda: Commission presses 16 Member States to implement new EU telecoms rules:

'via Blog this'

Implementation & Enforcement - Country reports

European Commission - Information Society - Telecommunications, Communications and Services - Implementation & Enforcement - Country by country tables and reports:

'via Blog this'

Spain and Germany: margin squeeze remedies and regulatory holidays

Spain: Telefonica in 2008 lost a margin squeeze case, and received a record fine - much higher than Deutsche Telekom (Germany) and France Telecom-Wanadoo (France). Is this justified? The CJEU upheld the DT fine in October 2010.
Germany: the regulator granted DT a regulatory holiday to deploy its VDSL network - was this unfair on competitors? Did it fragment the European market? The CJEU thought so.

Updated Infringement proccedings

From Europa: 'via Blog this'

Infringement procedures on telecoms

eCommunications: Infringement procedures | Europa - Information Society:

'via Blog this'

Commission requests Greece to implement rules to facilitate telecom networks roll-out

EUROPA - Press Releases - Digital Agenda: Commission requests Greece to implement rules to facilitate telecom networks roll-out:

'via Blog this'

UK to auction 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz spectrum in 2012 | Watching the Connectives

UK to auction 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz spectrum in 2012 | Watching the Connectives:

'via Blog this'

ECTA / REPORTS / WIK Studies / WIK Study - Apr 2011

ECTA / REPORTS / WIK Studies / WIK Study - Apr 2011:

'via Blog this'

UK delays 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz spectrum auctions until late 2012 | Watching the Connectives

UK delays 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz spectrum auctions until late 2012 | Watching the Connectives:

'via Blog this'

Clearest basic explanation of transition from copper to fibre?

Very clear IDC New Zealand presentation - for we lawyers, not technologists...

How a digital telephone exchange works

An illustrated guide!

Case studies in UK fibre-to-the-curb broadband

With deadlines of 2015, Cornwall used European money and BT partnership with 138,000km of fibre, Cambridgeshire thinks it can get £42m private investment within the total £70m budget (£8m from central government) and offer about 90% coverage of ADSL2+ or faster technology. Good luck to both!

Romania implementation of 2002 Directive

The new European framework for electronic communications

UK Telecoms at a glance...

Here and here (in detail).

TeleFrieden: Wireless Cost Per Minute and Consumer Behavior

TeleFrieden: Wireless Cost Per Minute and Consumer Behavior: " It has become a largely unquestioned “fact” that U.S. wireless consumers enjoy remarkably low per minute costs rivaling what the ..."

Rural wholesale broadband price drops

Ofcom in the UK has announced new price cuts of 12% below inflation for wholesale BT products in the 11% of the UK with absolutely no retail competition. They must be desperately hoping that this results in some kind of competition to reduce the need for government funding for higher speed services.

Translation of Dutch net neutralit...

Net neutrality in Europe: Bits of Freedom translation of Dutch net neutralit...: "Despite some obfuscation (and the need for the Senate to undo the messy ideological filtering amendment which confused MPs voted for !), the..."

"Every other European digital"? New scorecard data...

Net neutrality in Europe: "Every other European digital"? New scorecard data...: "The EC has made a classic centralised targeting mistake - it wants every European to be able to access 2Mbps broadband by 2013 . Only one a..."

Ofcom changes general conditions and universal service conditions

25 May - another response to the need to put in place amendments to the EComms framework went ahead following a statutory consultation. It changes consumer contract requirements, as well as the USO conditions on BT and Kingston.

Ofcom issues new EComms dispute guidelines for 2011

Following changes to the Authorisation Directive in EC/2009/136, Ofcom has very substantially toughened and streamlined its own dispute powers following a consultation with stakeholders. Examples are rapid dispute settlement procedures and a maximum fine for lack of required telco data increased from £50,000 to £2,000,000.

NZ: fibre wholesaler to be TelecomNZ - with regulator holiday for rest of decade?

This is what you call deregulation (well, there's a price cap), from the country that for a decade until 2001 pretended it did not need a telecoms regulator. Well, they barely have broadband unbundled and no cable to speak of, so perhaps their conservative government thinks it has to roll over and beg? "Telecommunications (TSO, Broadband, and Other Matters) Bill and recommended it become law, if several changes are made. The bill paves the way for the Government's $1.35 billion ultra-fast broadband scheme, which plans to lay fibre internet cables across 75 per cent of New Zealand over the next 10 years...the law would remove the Commerce Commission's ability to regulate price on the broadband network until December 31, 2019. The committee made its decision on advice from Crown officials that the forbearance would result in lower wholesale and retail prices "by removing the risk premium" for investors." No kidding it removes risk...competition...progress...
UPDATE: The indigenous Maori Party (which represents rural constituencies in the main) slammed a couple of torpedoes into the regulatory holiday in debate on 17 May - so it's not going to be allowed, thankfully for NZ consumers.

Incumbents' views: Telefonica exceptions in Article 102 are wrong

Well-written and well-argued but ultimately unconvincing view taken from the law'n'economics mainstream on competition law.

Case C‑52/09, Konkurrensverket v TeliaSonera AB: margin squeeze under Art.102

Note - this refers to conduct dating to April 2000! Court (First Chamber) hereby rules:

In the absence of any objective justification, the fact that a vertically integrated undertaking, holding a dominant position on the wholesale market in asymmetric digital subscriber line input services, applies a pricing practice of such a kind that the spread between the prices applied on that market and those applied in the retail market for broadband connection services to end users is not sufficient to cover the specific costs which that undertaking must incur in order to gain access to that retail market may constitute an abuse within the meaning of Article 102 TFEU.

When assessing whether such a practice is abusive, all of the circumstances of each individual case should be taken into consideration. In particular:

–        as a general rule, primarily the prices and costs of the undertaking concerned on the retail services market should be taken into consideration. Only where it is not possible, in particular circumstances, to refer to those prices and costs should those of competitors on the same market be examined, and

–        it is necessary to demonstrate that, taking particular account of whether the wholesale product is indispensable, that practice produces an anti-competitive effect, at least potentially, on the retail market, and that the practice is not in any way economically justified.

The following factors are, as a general rule, not relevant to such an assessment:

–        the absence of any regulatory obligation on the undertaking concerned to supply asymmetric digital subscriber line input services on the wholesale market in which it holds a dominant position;

–        the degree of dominance held by that undertaking in that market;

–        the fact that that undertaking does not also hold a dominant position in the retail market for broadband connection services to end users;

–        whether the customers to whom such a pricing practice is applied are new or existing customers of the undertaking concerned;

–        the fact that the dominant undertaking is unable to recoup any losses which the establishment of such a pricing practice might cause, or

–        the extent to which the markets concerned are mature markets and whether they involve new technology, requiring high levels of investment.

Ofcom settles and closes case brought against BT in March 2002

Which means that this was brewing up in late 2001 - before I joined WorldCom (which feels several centuries ago) - when BT had a joint venture with Yahoo!  and an appalling content portal called Openworld (known as Open Woe). To claim they were not price squeezing shows that Oftel and then Ofcom could not work out BT's accounting properly.

BEREC publish about 50 documents

You wait all year for a document then fifty turn up at once! Note net neutrality consultation response and draft work programme for 2011.

ITU useful stats: 2billion web users, 5.3billion mobiles

More stats in their ICT2010 document: "subscriptions to IMT2000/3G services have increased from 72 million in 2005 to 940 million in 2010. As many as 143 countries are offering IMT2000/3G services commercially, up from 95 countries in 2007. Over the past year, mobile broadband has experienced steep growth, especially in Europe and the United States, and some countries have started to offer commercial services at even higher broadband speeds, moving to next generation wireless platforms. The trend from voice to (mobile) data applications is reflected in the growing number of SMS, or text messages sent, which tripled over the past three years to reach a staggering 6.1 trillion in 2010. In other words, close to 200 000 text messages are sent every second. Overall, the price of ICT services is falling, but high-speed Internet access remains prohibitively expensive, especially in low-income developing countries. In 2009, an entry-level fixed (wired) broadband connection cost on average 190 PPP$ (Purchasing power parity in USD) per month in developing countries, compared to only 28 PPP$ in developed countries. Mobile cellular services are much more affordable, with an average monthly cost of 15 PPP$ in developing countries compared to around 18 PPP$ in developed countries. The relative price for ICT services (especially broadband) is highest in Africa, the region with the lowest income levels. The region lags behind when it comes to broadband access. Although subscriptions are increasing, a penetration rate of less than 1 per cent for fixed broadband illustrates the huge challenges that persist to increase access to high-speed, high-capacity Internet."

Competition Commission judges on LLU - latest of 5 appeals in two years

The CC has delivered a 513-page judgment on Carphone Warehouse (now TalkTalk) in its appeal against the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) decision in LLU - and has decided that it needs to review its procedures now that it has had to rule on its fifth price control appeal in two years.

Kenyan mobile: textbook example of using interconnection and on-off-net parity

Very interesting case study of a country with an operator taking 80% market share - and how to stop it undercutting rivals.

Forthcoming ECJ cases

Contentandcarrier keeps its excellent analysis coming.

CEPS study on Turkish telecoms and EC accession

Does anyone know who funded this research? Lots of interesting analysis packaged as an Impact Assessment.

Ed Richards (Ofcom CEO) on ex ante/ex post approaches and review of Ofcom decisions

A very thoughtful and considered speech on how Ofcom uses its powers and the benefits of static versus dynamic assessments of competition.

2010 update: freely available materials

For those who cannot afford £80 for publicly available materials, they are also freely available in:

this EC document (updated February 2010): 

and on the following websites:

1. BEREC/ERG common positions:

2. Article 7 proceedings

3. EC caselaw (updated February 2010) (right side)

Ofcom to cut mobile termination rates to 0.5p/min by 2014

Good news for consumers and fixed line operators - though mobiles will appeal to the CAT.

Polish regulator over-eager to regulate Internet exchanges

The EC has just made its first Article 7 decision since Neelie Kroes became INFSO Commissioner - that Poland's regulator misregulated in designating the incumbent as dominant in IP transit and interconnect. Its an important case, because of this reasoning.

Universal service and Directory Inquiries - complex UK reference to ECJ

Its here - and focuses on whether Ofcom was right to interpret universal service for number listing as an obligation at wholesale level on BT. The European Court will consider it in 2010.

Broadband mobile roaming in Europe

Here's the link the 2009 EC Decision on roaming.

US FCC - about to do what was threatened in 2002?

Is Chair Genachowski about to release lots and lots of spectrum for broadband? If so, he'll be implementing this plan.

Leased lines in UK - dispute affecting 2004-8

A potentially £100million dispute is dragging through the Competition Appeal Tribunal after an appeal by BT from Ofcom's ruling concerning the cost of business broadband lines - dating back to 2004. I spent 2002 working on the previous round of the same dispute!!!

When telecoms operators go bad - court enforcement and delays

Ofcom is now taking a Birmingham-based telephone company to court - at least 30 months after accounts of abuse came to light - is this too slow?
"Ofcom’s monitoring of Telephonics’ behaviour in relation to a section 94 notification which was issued to Telephonics on 20 March 2009, and which concluded that there were reasonable grounds for believing that since at least 1 June 2008, Telephonics had contravened, and was contravening, General Condition 1.2 of the General Conditions of Entitlement (GC 1.2)

As set out in the Section 95 and 96 Notification, Ofcom has concluded that Telephonics has:

1. contravened General Condition 1.2 (“GC1.2”) by misusing information obtained for the purpose of facilitating a transfer, by incorrectly applying the Cancel Other facility and engaging in Inappropriate Save Activity;
2. failed to take steps to comply with GC 1.2; and
3. failed to remedy the consequences of its contravention of GC 1.2."

Consumer and EU issues are dealt with in this commercial conference - always worth asking if you can attend as an observer for the second day (they will hum and haw but you might get in).

Structural remedies and Ofcom

Interesting self-congratulatory Ofcom paper on OpenReach - as well as a nice piece on ECJ potential cases. Its also worth noting that the Digital Economy Bill rumbles on with a government response to an online petition against cutting off connections.

BEREC gets busy on Phase 2 EC market reviews

The Independent Regulators Group - forerunner to BEREC - has issued various opinions on EC market reviews.

Ho do you judge independence of NRAs?

Interesting 2004 paper by Irene Wu of the FCC, with an 18-country study of NRA governance.

WorldCom fraud and its systemic effects on telco-ISP competition

Interesting paper on what happens when a single large actor in the interconnected world of telecoms engages in systematic fraud over several years - leading others to over-invest, hurting bilateral relations between carriers, and leading to 'competitive bankruptcy in which many of WorldCom's rivals had to seek new ownership or Chapter 11 protection. Those who avoided bankruptcy and forced restructuring were left in the worst position of all.

Why the European Commission had to reform the Directives

Huge an hugely influential BT-sponsored report, including especially work of Anders Henten, Jonathan Cave, Brian Williamson, and above all, Martin Cave - their recommendations were followed virtually to the letter where constitutionally possible (limiting length of national court processes was in the end too much to expect the Council of Ministers to accept).

Jim Speta on Internet regulation/net neutrality law

Fascinating and excellent paper.

3 February: deadline for UK on T-Mobile/Orange merger

OFT formally petitioned the European Commission to have the case referred. This will allow local evaluation of how the merger of T-Mobile and Orange will impact the UK mobile market, with a view to what restrictions should be placed on such a merger. T-Mobile and Orange were hoping that an EU-level investigation, with its 90-day turnaround, would wave through the merger with minimal concessions on either side. But, conversely, it would be a victory for the competition, who'd like nothing more than a lengthy investigation during which Orange and T-Mobile are effectively paralysed in the UK market.

New European Directives must be implemented by June 19, 2011

See this link to the Package of reforms.

Ofcom rules on 'cost-orientation' and leased lines

Interesting ruling on whether BT over-charged by £40m to competitors who lease its broadband backhaul.

Commission wins German 'regulatory holidays' case?

The Advocate General's Opinion of 23 April 2009 in C-424/07 Commission v. Germany analyzed by 'Contentandcarrier'.

Commission's 14th Implementation Report

Published yesterday: a full report, as well as individual Member State chapters.

Links to other sources

Here's more on BERT/GERT/IRG etc. and on ECTA's Regulatory Scorecard.

European Parliament caps roaming charges on mobile

Note that the caps are still very high prices and EP socialists tried to ensure lower caps by 2011. 

50cents a Megabyte for data is $500 for a Gigabyte, which is 1% of your monthly allowance on most fixed broadband. Yup, that's $50,000 a month if you used your laptop to access your total fixed broadband in France this month...