REPORT SHOWS 100 MILLION EUROPEANS HAVE BROADBAND ACCESS

Super-speed broadband driven by competitive providers

ECTA calls for open access to fibre to boost broadband speeds and services

Brussels, 1st September 2008 – Europe now has over 100 million broadband subscribers according to the latest Broadband Scorecard released today by ECTA. The results of its twice-yearly survey also show that altnets, or competitive providers, and not the large incumbents which own much of the telecom infrastructure, are leading in provision of super broadband connection speeds above 10Mbits/sec, as well as driving the uptake of high-tech services. Speeds and services have become the next broadband battleground, according to the pro-competition body.

ECTA WARNS OF THREAT TO BROADBAND COMPETITION FROM EU PARLIAMENT TELECOMS PROPOSALS

Brussels, 08 July 2008 – The European Competitive Telecoms Association, the pro competition group, gave a cautious welcome to proposals from the European Parliament to amend the EU Telecoms Framework, but warned that many of the amendments approved by the European Parliament’s Industry Committee on 7 July protect and favour dominant firms at the expense of competition in the telecoms sector. ECTA cautioned that, if adopted by the Parliament and endorsed by other European institutions, the advantages gained by the dominant firms under the proposed revisions to the EU legislation could undermine competition in high-speed broadband services.

LEADING EUROPEAN STUDY SHOWS BUSINESS CASE FOR NEXT GENERATION BROADBAND FAVOURS FORMER INCUMBENTS

Economics of fibre networks prevent widespread replication

ECTA calls for mandatory access to fibre networks in the EU Telecoms Framework to counter anti-competition threat

Brussels, 25 June 2008 – Definitive research, released today at the High Speed Europe conference, is the first to analyse the business case of rolling out next generation fibre networks across Europe. The study, carried out by WIK, one of Europe’s leading telecoms research and analysis firms, shows overwhelming that only incumbent operators, with their extensive infrastructure and customer bases, can profitably roll out high speed fibre to the home (FTTH) lines to large parts of Europe. This raises the possibility that incumbents could once again increase their market share reversing the trend towards more competition in telecoms.

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EUROPEANS PAY OVER €10 BILLION A YEAR IN SPURIOUS MOBILE TERMINATION CHARGES

ECTA endorses Commission’s efforts to cut rates

Brussels, 24 June 2008 – ECTA’s competitive fixed operators today claimed that lucrative wholesale charges imposed by incumbent mobile operators for connecting calls to each other’s networks are both excessive and discriminatory. As a result, European consumers are being penalised. The pro-competition group called on Commissioner Reding to enforce a cut in these charges when she publishes her proposals on termination rates later this month.

Currently the average EU mobile termination rate is nine euro cents a minute, although rates between member states and between networks vary significantly. Commissioner Reding said earlier this month[1] that she wants to see mobile termination rates cut to between one and two euro cents by 2012. ECTA agrees that a significant decrease is needed.

European Commission telecoms report calls time on incumbent investment scare tactics - ECTA comments on the main findings of the report

The Commission’s Implementation Report on the Telecoms Framework, released today, challenges claims by incumbents that investment in Europe is stalling. Not only has investment increased for the fifth year in a row, but it is the competitive providers and not the incumbent operators that are spearheading telecoms investment in Europe, proving ECTA’s long-held position.

According to the report, capital expenditure on telecoms in Europe exceeded €50bn in 2007, with competitive providers investing twice as much as incumbents in relation to their size. This is despite the fact that they are competing with incumbents who own 85% of telephone lines across Europe, a very risky investment environment for the competitive providers.

REPORT SHOWS INCUMBENT OPERATORS COULD CONTROL 80% of NEXT GENERATION BROADBAND MARKET

ECTA urges European policy-makers to approve powers for functional separation as competitive impetus wanes

Brussels, 18 February 2008 – The pro-competition body ECTA, today called for stronger powers for regulators to implement competition rules, as it publishes the results of its twice-yearly survey on broadband take-up and competitiveness in Europe. The survey shows that while one in five people (20%) in Europe now subscribe to a broadbandreduced across Europe, with the retail market share of incumbents persisting at close to 50% and connection, competitive impetus has reduced across Europe, with the retail market share of incumbents persisting at close to 50% and slow growth of 10% in broadband connections.

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INNOCENZO GENNA CALLS FOR CONTINUED USE OF APPROPRIATE REGULATORY MEASURES TO ENABLE COMPETITION

Genna is re-confirmed as Chairman of ECTA

Brussels, 25 January 2008 – It was announced today that the newly elected board of the European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA) has elected Innocenzo Genna, representative of AIIP, as Chairman of the Association, and Richard Lalande, representative of Aforst, the French Association of Network & Telecom Service Operators, as Vice-Chairman. The new ECTA Board consists of 11 directors representing key members of the pro-competitive operators association: Aforst, AIIP, Apritel, British Telecom, Cisco, FastWeb, Global Crossing, Verizon, Vonage, TDC-Song and Wind.

TELECOMS WATCHDOGS LACK POWERS TO FIGHT MONOPOLIES, STUDY FINDS

Benchmark of 19 European countries shows lowest prices, highest investment where regulators have strong tools to enforce EU pro-competition rules

Brussels, 28th November 2007  The powers and independence of National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) have in many cases been restricted and their ability to enforce rules under the EU Telecoms Framework have been compromised, according to a report issued today by ECTA at its Regulatory Conference. The independence of the telecoms regulatory system from Government appears to affect the overall regulatory effectiveness of countries as measured under the 2007 ECTA Regulatory Scorecard. In particular, state ownership in telecoms companies seems to be particularly influential in determining overall effectiveness of telecoms regulation.

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NEW REGULATORY FRAMEWORK IS BEST PACKAGE TO DELIVER EUROPE'S BROADBAND FUTURE

Brussels, 13 November 2007: ECTA backs Commission plans for enhanced competition for next generation access networks.

Key elements of the framework are functional separation, the extended definition of access to include fibre and the commitment to deliver a truly single market

Brussels, 13 November 2007 - ECTA today congratulated the European Commission for proposing a package which will accelerate Europe's broadband development by giving national regulators the tools to break down monopolies and deliver consistent results across the single market.

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UPDATE 2-No need for special mobile access rules-EU
Tue Oct 16, 2007 1:48 PM BST
(Releads with new entrants' reaction)
By Ingrid Melander

16 October 2007, Brussels (Reuters) - New telecoms operators in the EU on Tuesday denounced plans to ease regulations which guarantee them fair access to existing mobile providers' networks.

"We are absolutely opposed (to the move)," said Ilsa Godlovitch of the European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA). Her group represents new operators such as Neuf Cegetel (NEUF.PA: Quote,Profile, Research) of France and Virgin Media (VEMD.O: Quote,Profile, Research), which compete with former monopolies.