First the EU said: Network interconnection by means of the Internet Protocol (IP) has been a vital enabler of the Internet’s ubiquity and success. IP-based interconnection has usually been achieved without explicit regulatory obligations, and has for the most part been highly effective.
Given the rapid evolution of the economic, technological and social environment this study of the European Union investigates whether IP interconnection is still better left unregulated.
Martyn Warwick of telecomtv slammed: You have to wonder if some “analysts” live in the same world as the rest of us. Take for example a hefty new report, commissioned by the European Commission and written by a German research organisation, that goes so far as to recommend the abolition of termination fees – on the peculiar grounds that we might…
Microsoft Gets Record Fine and a Rebuke From Europe - New York Times
The European antitrust regulator imposed a record $1.35 billion fine against Microsoft on Wednesday in a ruling intended to send a clear message to the world’s largest software maker — and to any other company — of the dangers of flouting Europe’s competition rulings. Neelie Kroes, Europe’s antitrust regulator, expressed irritation with Microsoft, saying it had not complied with a 2004 ruling.
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Times Topics: Microsoft Corporation
The size of the penalty, which surprised lawyers and legal experts, was a clear assertion of the power of the European Commission and its main antitrust regulator, Neelie Kroes, who is its competition commissioner. She has emerged from a lengthy legal battle with Microsoft as possibly the world’s most…
A single European Union-wide telecoms market could be in place from 2010 after the European Commission set out plans to increase competition. Under the new plans, a regional watchdog would be created and former monopolies could be forced to split up their network and services operations.
The planned changes are designed to offer consumers cheaper broadband services and phone calls from fixed line and mobile handsets, the Commission also argues. It claims that consumers are currently losing out because in many member countries, including Poland, Italy and Germany, the former state telecoms monopolies still dominate, particularly in the broadband market.
The proposals will now be debated in the European Parliament.
However, analysts said there is likely to be opposition to the changes with Germany and Spain seen as…
BBC NEWS | Business | EU plans crackdown on mobile fees
“A plan to regulate mobile phone charges for calls made abroad will shortly be published by the European Commission, despite intense opposition.
The industry is concerned that the proposals go too far, and even within the commission itself there are doubts.
At present, most users pay far more to make mobile calls when they are abroad than they do in their home country.
This is because service providers have to pay large fees for access to one another’s networks.”
Not the highest priority for regulators in emerging Asia. However, high roaming charges are an instance of companies exploiting each other’s customers and are not defensible.
Possibly something that regional telecom regulatory associations such as SATRC can take up, at least…
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