Public hearing on telecommunications policy
17 February 2000 - 17 February 2000
The European Commission is holding a public hearing to discuss the possibility of 'unbundled access to the local loop' in Brussels on 22 February 2000 in preparation for a possible Commission Recommendation to be addressed to Member States.
Allowing 'unbundled access to the local loop' means allowing other operators to use the local loops installed by incumbent telephone operators, increasing choice for telecommunications users.
A working document on the subject, available at http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/information_society/publications/docs/index_en.htm(opens in new window) has been prepared by the Information Society Directorate-General to serve as a basis for an exchange of views at the public hearing.
The Commission's eEurope initiative launched in December last year set a target date of December 2000 for the opening up to competition of the circuit connecting customer's telephone lines with the operator's local switch.
With access to the local loop, new market entrants can provide competing services to consumers, offering, for example, new broadband services for high speed, constant access to the Internet.
In the 1999 Communications review, the Commission drew attention to the lack of competition and choice in local as opposed to long distance and international telecoms markets, and announced its intention to publish Recommendations on pricing and other aspects of local network access. In the short term, the document recommended consideration of the technical and economic aspects of local loop unbundling.
Erkki Liikanen, Commissioner for Enterprise and the Information Society, said: 'I am convinced that the availability of unbundled access to the local loop facilities of incumbent operators will increase technical innovation and competition in the local access network, where competition is still weak. In particular, it will stimulate the roll out of high speed Internet access services to small business users and consumers, facilitating the growth of e-commerce and e-business.'
Five Member States, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany and the Netherlands, already require unbundling of the local loop, and others have either announced dates or are consulting on the issue.
Allowing 'unbundled access to the local loop' means allowing other operators to use the local loops installed by incumbent telephone operators, increasing choice for telecommunications users.
A working document on the subject, available at http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/information_society/publications/docs/index_en.htm(opens in new window) has been prepared by the Information Society Directorate-General to serve as a basis for an exchange of views at the public hearing.
The Commission's eEurope initiative launched in December last year set a target date of December 2000 for the opening up to competition of the circuit connecting customer's telephone lines with the operator's local switch.
With access to the local loop, new market entrants can provide competing services to consumers, offering, for example, new broadband services for high speed, constant access to the Internet.
In the 1999 Communications review, the Commission drew attention to the lack of competition and choice in local as opposed to long distance and international telecoms markets, and announced its intention to publish Recommendations on pricing and other aspects of local network access. In the short term, the document recommended consideration of the technical and economic aspects of local loop unbundling.
Erkki Liikanen, Commissioner for Enterprise and the Information Society, said: 'I am convinced that the availability of unbundled access to the local loop facilities of incumbent operators will increase technical innovation and competition in the local access network, where competition is still weak. In particular, it will stimulate the roll out of high speed Internet access services to small business users and consumers, facilitating the growth of e-commerce and e-business.'
Five Member States, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany and the Netherlands, already require unbundling of the local loop, and others have either announced dates or are consulting on the issue.