The CEOs of Europe's leading telecom operators have reiterated their opposition to the proposed reforms of EU telecoms regulation, saying the market would be better off sticking to the current rules. The joint statement of the CEOs, issued by the incumbents' lobby group ETNO, comes ahead of a crucial round of trilogue negotiations by the EU institutions to finalise the proposed Electronic Communications Code.
ETNO said the CEOs sent a letter to the EU institutions, expressing "deep concern" about the political negotiations and saying there were "no signals that the Code will deliver on its original ambition" of supporting investment in broadband networks. They said there was little progress on "vital measures to facilitate 5G roll-out", such as stronger spectrum governance and longer licence duration, and the code also "falls short of supporting successful fibre investment models" or ensuring consistent consumer protection for OTT services similar to telecom services. The incumbents said analysts and investors are also worried about additional ex-ante regulatory constraints proposed to tackle "so-called oligopolies" and price regulation.
The ETNO operators, which include companies such as Deutsche Telekom, Orange and Telefonica, called on the EU institutions "to urgently address the shortcomings of the current debate by re-injecting the needed ambition into the process. Otherwise, even the existing EU Directives would deliver more predictability and certainty."
International call price cap
The statement comes as the European Parliament, Commission and Council are set to meet on 25 April for another round of negotiations on the code. A key stumbling block has been the Parliament's insistence on capping the cost of intra-EU calls, a measure opposed by the Commission and operators, according to the latest drafts seen by Euractiv. Operators would not be able to charge more for an EU call than a domestic call, unless they can show there is a significant difference in costs for delivering the international call. Council members were more inclined to supporting the proposal, but said the technical details of regulating international calls would have to be worked out further.
Berec, the assembly of national telecom regulators in the EU, has just released its second analysis of the market for intra-EU calls, after a preliminary report in February. Berec stressed that while the data is not consistent across all EU countries, it should help policymakers assess whether there is a need for regulation. The latest report shows that a significant number of telecom bundles already include EU calls. For ten countries analysed, more than 50 percent of total intra-EU minutes originating in fixed networks were included in bundled offers. This was lower for mobile, with only four countries exceeding 30 percent of intra-EU minutes covered by bundles.
Joint investment incentives
The Council may offer to support the plan to cap EU call rates in order to gain the Parliament's backing for other matters, the Euractiv report said. The Council changed its position on another controversial measure in the past week, on the conditions for relaxing regulation for competing companies that work together on network investments. The new proposal is to offer a lighter regulatory touch if the operators present "purchase commitments" for investing with their competitors. The deal is expected to upset alternative operators that have argued that relaxed regulation only benefits their larger competitors.
