EU mulls telco shakeup
Commissioner calls for single European regulator to allocate spectrum and encourage more competition.
A European commissioner last week announced plans to encourage more competition in the telecoms industry, and put forward a proposal for new EU regulators for telecoms and wireless spectrum.
In a speech about The Review 2006 of EU Telecom Rules report, European commissioner Viviane Reding said the EC would develop policies to improve regulation of the telecoms industry, encourage more efficient use of radio spectrum, and foster more competition and investment in the sector. Reding also proposed the creation of a single European spectrum agency, similar to that in the US, which would have control over the 25 national regulators.
Reding’s proposals raised fears that future revenue raised by auctioning radio spectrum in the UK might disappear into the coffers of a new European agency.
But Mike Davis of analyst Butler Group said this would not happen. “Gordon Brown needs every penny he can get; there isn’t a hope in hell of that money going to Europe.” Reports last week suggested that Ofcom is preparing to auction 4G licences next year. “[It] will not bring in anywhere near the amounts of money [for the previous 3G auction]. All the operators have had their fingers badly burnt,” said Davis.
Reding also proposed an independent European telecoms regulator “similar to the European System of Central Banks”, to work with national regulators.
Davis said the idea of a single European regulator may be sensible “but [it] flies in the face of what’s currently happening in Europe”.