European Parliament stands for competition in telecommunications

Brussels, 10 March 2015: Following the declarations by Commission Vestager during her hearing in front of the ECON Committee, showing her willingness to establish a close and fruitful relationship at all levels with the Parliament, the European Parliament voted today on the Annual Report on EU Competition Policy. 

Telekom versucht Investitionswettbewerb zu stoppen
VATM: Kein Monopol für Vectoring-Technologie

20 February 2015: Mit einem für Montag angekündigten Regulierungsantrag versucht die Telekom, ein Ausbaumonopol mit Vectoring im Kernbereich der Regulierung in Deutschland am sogenannten Hauptverteiler, den über 8.000 zentralen Vermittlungsstellen der Telekom, zu schaffen. Bislang können alle Investoren in Deutschland Vectoring einsetzen, wenn sie die Glasfaser weiter in nicht oder schlecht versorgte Gebiete bringen und dabei bestimmte Auflagen des Regulierers erfüllen. „Investitionswettbewerb und Windhundrennen gehören bislang zu der klaren Strategie der Bundesregierung und der Bundesnetzagentur, um die Breitbandziele für Deutschland erreichen zu können", betont VATM-Präsident Martin Witt. Genau auf diesen Wettbewerb, der unter dem Deckmantel des Einsatzes neuer Technologie ausgehebelt werden soll, ziele der Antrag der Telekom. Aufgrund allergrößter Bedenken im Hinblick auf den
Breitbandausbauwettbewerb sieht Brüssel den Einsatz von Vectoring extrem kritisch und verhindert ihn bislang für Gebiete, die mit Steuergeldern gefördert worden sind.

Review of the telecom regulatory framework:
let’s not follow the path to "Monopoly 2.0”!

Brussels, 26 February 2015: The EU telecommunications markets have recently witnessed an increased trend towards consolidation via mergers and acquisitions and towards bundled offers. Those developments can lead, in certain situations, to oligopolistic and duopolistic market structures. ECTA welcomed the opportunity to participate in the BEREC Workshop on Oligopoly Analysis and Regulation and to share views on the development of the EU regulatory framework for the telecommunications sector. 

ECTA CEOs meet with Vice-president Andrus ANSIP
The true story of European broadband investments: if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it

Brussels, 16 February 2015: Today a delegation of CEOs from key member companies of the European Competitive Telecoms Association (ECTA) met with the European Commission’s Vice-President Andrus Ansip to share their vision of the connected Digital Single Market, the state of play and the steps that might be necessary for the completion of it, including at a later stage the review of the telecoms framework.

Massive consolidation is not the silver bullet for boosting broadband investments 
More players invest more and smaller players invest more efficiently

Brussels, 4 February 2015: Today in a working breakfast co-organised by Adina-Ioana VĂLEAN, Vice-President of the European Parliament, and ECTA, the European Competitive Telecommunications Association, MEPs and advisors, Commission officials and telecommunications attachés debated with experts  the issue of consolidation in the telecoms market. 

Hubertus von Roenne elected new Chairman of ECTA calls for regulation enabling investments by all operators – big and small - at Commissioner Günther Oettinger’s roundtable 

Brussels, 16 January 2015: The European Competitive Telecoms Association has elected Hubertus von Roenne as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

ECTA Regulatory Conference: transition should not be a pretext for reversing the pro-competitive model of the EU telecoms sector

Brussels, 18 November 2014: More than 300 policy makers, regulators, industry stakeholders and representatives of consumers will join this year’s ECTA annual conference as the new mandates of the European Commission and European Parliament have just begun. Confirming the key contribution of the digital sector to the economy, the new Institutions have placed digital issues high on the priority list, with the "Connected Digital Single Market” at the core of the Juncker Commission’s programme. 

BEREC consults: ECTA suggests competition as a way for results 

16 October 2014: Today ECTA participated in the 2nd BEREC Stakeholder Forum Meeting, which aimed at consulting end-users  and market players on three important topics: BEREC’s Strategy 2015-2017 and Work Programme for 2015,  Margin Squeeze test and a future model for roaming.

EC Recommendation on Relevant Markets:  key competition safeguards maintained; national regulators must remain vigilant to avoid detriment to end-users

Brussels, 10 October 2014: Yesterday the European Commission adopted its revised Recommendation on Relevant Markets Susceptible to Ex-Ante Regulation. This Recommendation lists the telecoms markets to be examined by National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs), with a view to deciding whether a market is effectively competitive or needs regulation in order to enable competition.

ECTA agrees with BEREC warning against premature de-regulation of fixed voice markets 

Brussels, 13 June 2014: BEREC, the Body of European Regulators, has on Monday published its Opinion on the review of the European Commission’s Recommendation on Relevant Markets, stating inter alia that it is premature to remove the fixed voice markets from the list of regulated telecommunications markets.