As outlined earlier, she plans an operator 'passport', similar to what exists in the financial services sector, where authorisation to operate in one country is valid throughout the EU, and the operator need answer only to the regulator in its home country. More standardised network access products across the EU, such as virtual bitstream, higher quality interconnection and coordinated spectrum licensing, is also expected to encourage operators to cross borders.
On the consumer side, Kroes reiterated her call for an end to higher fees for roaming or international calls. The ITRE committee also published its own call for ending roaming surcharges by 2015; it plans to put the resolution to the entire Parliament in September. Kroes also said she plans to introduce an element of 'net neutrality' in the law. This would see any form of "blocking or throttling" of specific services by operators, on any network or device, prohibited.
The Industry, Research and Energy committee is conducting its own review of the telecom regulatory framework, led by MEP Catherine Trautmann. However, Kroes said the MEPs should not await a lengthy review before taking action, as this could delay needed reforms by over five years. Calling her proposals "incremental but immediate", she said they could still improve the current model, to get the best out of the existing framework.
