DG Information Society 1 Liberalisation and regulation in Electronic Communications in the EU 2nd ICT Summit Istanbul, 3-6 September 2002 Hans-Peter Gebhardt DG Information Society EUROPEAN COMMISSION

DG Information Society 2 1. The Benefits of Liberalisation since 1998  Number of operators and consumer choice  Rebalancing of (retail) tariffs  Market shares Key market indicators:

DG Information Society 3 Almost 1600 operators

DG Information Society 4 Consumer choice in voice telephony Local callsLong-dist./Int'l calls 2 operators 3-5 operatorsMore than 5 operators Number of Member States where 100% of the population has a choice between: Source: NRAs and European Commission

DG Information Society 5 Cost of international calls

DG Information Society 6 Local and long-distance call charges (3 min) Local callLong-distance call 13,33 13,04 13,51 14,55 72,69 57,91 45,52 40, Aug. 1998Aug. 1999Aug. 2000Aug €-cents, VAT included EU15 weighted average Source: Teligen

DG Information Society 7 International Leased lines Price trends

DG Information Society 8 Market shares (voice telephony) EU incumbent operators' average call market shares (by revenue) Source: NRAs and European Commission

DG Information Society 9 Market shares (mobile)

DG Information Society 10 Outlook  Liberalisation successful, but:  Full and consistent application of current framework essential  Progress in local loop unbundling crucial  Leased line prices and provisioning times need to be brought down even further  More flexible regulatory environment in future

DG Information Society The New EU Regulation A successful legal framework will:  Attract investment, by - encouraging market entry - providing legal certainty - restraining firms with undue market power - keeping regulation to the minimum necessary  Promote choice and competition  Safeguard users interests, where market forces do not

DG Information Society 12 Content Services - outside scope of new framework (e.g. broadcast content, e-commerce services) Electronic communications networks and services - Scope Communications services (e.g. telephone, fax, ) Communications networks (fixed, mobile, satellite, cable TV, powerline systems, networks used for radio and television broadcasting) and associated facilities (e.g. CAS)

DG Information Society 13 Players to be regulated  Undertakings with a dominant position in an identified market where competition is not effective  NRA designates such players as having SMP and imposes appropriate obligations  Commission can block NRA decisions regarding designation, or not, of undertakings with SMP

DG Information Society 14 Market entry procedures  Market entry needs no prior permission  Conditions are set out in general authorisation, and are limited  Individual rights-of-use of frequencies and numbers assigned via individual authorisations

DG Information Society 15 National Regulatory Authorities  Rapid decision-making / dispute resolution  Systematic appeals mechanisms  Power, clarity of address, resources, skills Effective implementation of regulation requires:

DG Information Society 16 Data Protection Directive Unbundled local loop Regulation Spectrum Decision (Art. 95) The new package Liberalisation Directive (Art. 86) Framework Directive (Art. 95) Authorisation Directive Access & Interconnection Directive Users’ Rights Directive

DG Information Society 17 FOR MORE INFORMATION On DG Information Society: On the new legislation: new_rf/index_en.htm On the 7th Implementation Report: ual_report/7report/index_en.htm