Commission takes legal action against six Member States
The European Commission has launched formal infringement procedures against Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria and Finland for failure to implement a telecoms directive. The Numbering Directive, which was adopted in 1998, requires Member States to further liberalise their telecommunications markets. The Directive states that by 1 January 2000 subscribers should be able to access alternative operators without the need to dial a prefix, and retain their telephone number on the fixed and ISDN networks regardless of which operator provides the service. The deadline does not apply to certain Member States granted extra time for liberalising their telecommunications markets. Both the carrier pre-selection and number portability services are important to the telecommunications market in order to remove barriers to entry to new providers, according to a Commission statement.