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Europe Talks Tough On Telecoms
by William New
European Competition Commissioner Mario Monti on Tuesday cited possible abusive practices in the European telecommunications sector that his office is working to correct. While the opening of European telecom markets to competition is a success story, he said, problem areas still must be addressed.
The "local loop," or the last mile of phone lines to customers' homes, still has not been unbundled from other telecom services in most European Union countries despite a mandate for that action by December 2000. Without unbundling, new entrants to the telecom market face prohibitive connection costs, further discouraging them from a market with other obstructive practices by the former monopolies, Monti said.
Monti said his office is working on competition cases involving allegedly abusive practices by incumbent telecom operators who bar newcomers from local markets in both telephony and high-speed Internet services. "Cases involving predatory pricing and price-squeeze situations are at an advanced stage of investigation, and final decisions can be expected this year," he said in a speech at European Competition Day in Madrid, Spain.
The mobile telecom market also is undergoing scrutiny, Monti said. The commission's inquiry into international roaming prices for cell phones has shown that "mobile operators may be engaged in excessive pricing," he said. The investigation has been narrowed to EU nations where the problem is most serious, and Monti's office intends to take "concrete action" this year.
Monti said the commission also is investigating allegations of excessive "mobile termination rates," or the fees that wireless firms charge for connecting calls to their networks, with announcements expected in the summer.
Broadcasting of sports events is another area of concern for the commission. He said collective selling agreements among broadcasters might amount to price fixing, limit the availability of rights of the sports events and strengthen the market position of dominant broadcasters.
"We are particularly sensitive to ensure that any withholding of rights does not hinder the emergence of new technologies such as the Internet," he said. "This is not an abstract exercise aimed at favoring specific technologies over others. It is about consumers."
Monti said the commission will "monitor the exploitation of the new media (Internet, mobile networks) in relation to major sport events." He questioned whether the two leading digital platforms in Spain, Sogecable and Telefonica, should have been allowed to join forces to buy the broadcasting rights to Spanish soccer until 2009.
Erkki Liikanen, the European commissioner for enterprise and information society, echoed Monti's points in a speech last week in which he identified five core priorities for the future eEurope 2005 action plan. The priorities are to promote attractive content for all Europeans, provide public services online, pursue digital inclusiveness for all Europeans, promote faster Internet services, and ensure trust and confidence in cyberspace.
Goals Set For U.N. Telecom Conference
Goals have been set for the upcoming World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC) in Istanbul, Turkey, on March 18-27. The event, organized by the U.N. International Telecommunication Union (ITU), is expected to draw 1,500 high-ranking delegates from government, the private sector, and international and regional organizations.
The conference will set development priorities to reduce the divide among nations with high and low levels of technology adaptation. "The challenge facing the upcoming [WTDC] is to show how sector reform, investment and capacity-building can make a genuine difference to improving the livelihoods of the world's most deprived," ITU Secretary-General Yoshio Utsumi said.
Another objective will be to promote international cooperation and partnerships to improve telecom infrastructure in developing countries.
The meeting also will provide input for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in 2003. That meeting will result in a common vision for putting the information revolution to work for human development and against the "digital divide." The WSIS will result in political commitments to implement an action plan.
A series of regional meetings resulted in other common themes for the WTDC conference, such as establishing a framework conducive to investment, offering training, harmonizing telecom standards and updating regulatory frameworks. The WTDC is held every four years.
In a related development, Swiss diplomat Guy-Olivier Segond has been appointed by the ITU as ambassador to the WSIS. The ambassador's role is to educate governments and other U.N. agencies on the importance of the summit.
The first phase of the summit will be held in Geneva on Dec. 10-12, 2003. Segond is the former president of the State Council of the Republic and Canton of Geneva. The second phase will be in Tunis, Tunisia in 2005.
Themes for the summit will be discussed at a meeting of the U.N. Preparatory Committee from July 1-5 in Geneva. Issues to be addressed include building infrastructure, universal and equitable access to the information society, and education and health, among other things.
Europe Pursues South American Markets
European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy is visiting Argentina, Brazil and Chile from Feb. 27 to March 4 to further bilateral trade ties in those South American countries. He will seek to strengthen commitments to the ongoing negotiations for a free-trade agreement between the European Union and the Southern Cone Common Market (Mercosur), which consists of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Lamy's visit to Chile on March 2-4 will coincide with the next round of negotiations for an EU-Chile trade agreement. Europe hopes to conclude the negotiations at the Second EU-Latin America summit to be held in Madrid on May 18-19. Lamy will meet with Chilean President Ricardo Lagos.
Separately, Lamy last week finished a trip to Southeast Asia with a pronouncement of support for Cambodia's bid to join the World Trade Organization. He also urged Cambodia to become part of the European Union's initiative granting open access to products from the least developed countries.
China Approves Rules On Foreign Investment
The Chinese cabinet has approved rules allowing greater foreign investment in technology areas, Reuters reports. The move is in keeping with the commitments China made in the WTO accession process.
Citing a report from the official Xinhua news agency, Reuters said the new rules take effect April 1. The increased investment will cover five broad areas, including high-tech equipment and materials aimed at improving the quality, efficiency and production capabilities of companies.
The rules also encourage investment in new technology for the communications, agriculture, energy and raw material industries, and technology and equipment to conserve energy or counter pollution. The remaining investment areas are in products that can develop new markets or improve competitiveness, or that contribute to development in western China.
The emphasis will be on long-term returns, especially in infrastructure. The rules will bar investment that represents a national security risk or is harmful to society, the report said.
Experts To Ponder Movie Rights Online
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) will hold a conference on "New Trends in Film Rights" during the Cannes Film Festival on May 16-17.
Legal experts will discuss how digital technology can be applied to secure the acquisition of rights and the implications of that technology for the rights of performers, authors, composers and directors. Participants also will examine merchandising rights and whether interactive rights are covered.
The ICC Institute of World Business Law will conduct the conference.
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