EU plans to change telecom rules, deliver more rights to consumers

European Telecom commissioner Viviane Reding is expected to put forward on Tuesday a series of new regulations to reform and strengthen competition on the European telecom market. The goal of the measures is to provide better services at lower prices for some 500 million consumers across the Union. Several proposals were described by Reding’s spokesman Martin Selmayr for HotNews.ro.

These include more powers for national regulators to improve competition, the creation of a pan-European regulating body – the European Telecom Market Authority, establishing a more uniform mobile termination rates and the possibility of consumers to switch telecom operators within one day.

Viviane Reding’s proposals have already sparked heated talks among European commissioners. Both Neelie Kroes, the Competition commissioner, and Gunter Verheugen, the Industry commissioner, are cautious about the changes believing such a review of the rules may affect investments and boost bureaucracy.

According to international media reports, should Commissioner Reding’s proposal be accepted by European authorities, the European Regulators Group would be replaced by the new Authority by 2010. The ERG, bringing together representatives of all regulating authorities from member states including Romania, was established in July 2002.

The new telecom market authority would be three times more efficient than the ERG, Martin Selmayr had said in October, quoted by Thomson Financial.

Romanian IT consultant Adrian Spinei told HotNews.ro that the pan-European regulating authority would be useful as long as certain national organizations are pursuing policies that come against European principles or to play a mediating role for the adoption and of common measures for all member states.