EP approves local loop liberalisation
The European Commissioner for Enterprise and the Information society, Erkki Liikanen, has claimed that the European Parliament's prompt vote in favour of adopting the local loop liberalisation regulation shows that the European Union 'can act at Internet speed.' The Commission presented the proposal in July, with Council agreement coming on 3 October at the meeting of telecommunications ministers in Luxembourg and the favourable European Parliament vote coming on 26 October. 'The unprecedented speed by which this proposal has been agreed on by all member states and the European Parliament demonstrates the importance of this issue for Europe,' said Mr Liikanen. 'There is a clear sense of urgency and a firm commitment on the part of Europe's leaders to move quickly forward so that the regulation can enter into force on 1 January 2001.' The decision, apart from being a major step forward in the creation of eEurope, should allow for faster access to the Internet at cheaper rates and the more rapid development of digital subscriber lines (DSL) technologies. ing ins
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