The European Commission has opened an infringement procedure against Germany because the country's national regulator - the Bundesnetzagentur - did not consult the Commission and other national regulators prior to deciding on new levels of mobile termination rates. Contrary to Germany's obligations under EU telecoms rules, the Bundesnetzagentur's final decisions on mobile termination rates were adopted on 31 March 2009 before the Commission and other national regulators had the possibility to comment on the level of these rates. This lack of transparency is a first in the application of EU telecoms rules in the 27 EU Member States.
The Commission warns that without prior consultation of other regulators, there is an increased risk that the regulatory approach to termination rates will differ among Member States and distort competition in the EU's single telecoms market. Already today, termination rates, and the methodology used to set them, vary widely across the EU. The Commission has therefore called for them to be better coordinated.
"Regulatory decisions setting mobile termination rates affect operators in other Member States and thus the single market. This is why the EU telecoms rules require national regulators to consult with regulators from other Member States and the European Commission on decisions such as these," said EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding.
"Unfortunately, after intensive contacts with the Commission, the German regulator took the position that the levels of mobile termination rates and the method for their calculation are exempt from EU-wide consultation. This represents not only a violation of EU law, but goes also against the spirit of a single market where close cooperation and consultation among national regulators and the Commission should help to avoid diverging regulatory approaches that could create obstacles for the single telecoms market."
Posted to the site on 25th June 2009
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/38209.php