Long-fought proposals on roaming and spectrum ownership could be watered down, giving some breathing room for the EU’s large telecoms groups.
According to a draft proposal from the Italian presidency of the European Council seen by the Financial Times, there will be no change in wholesale roaming rates proposed with a review of the system in 2016.
The next commission starts work in November under the presidency of Jean-Claude Juncker, who has made development of the digital economy a priority. Analysts expect future legislative changes in telecoms regulation, such as the unbundling of fixed line networks, a fresh look at competition policy to encourage cross border co-operation and a pan-EU content market.
The paper lays out proposals for long-term spectrum licenses, which will be welcomed by an industry that has called for guarantees over their network ownership, saying: “All new rights of use of spectrum in bands . . . shall be granted with a minimum duration of 25 years, and in any case for a duration appropriate to incentivise investment and competition. Member states may grant rights of use of indefinite duration.”
The proposals will need to be negotiated by member states. Berec, the European group of regulators, has also been asked for input.
Analysts said that the larger companies would be pleased that no further burdens were to be imposed before the act is passed. One analyst, who declined to be named, said that Vodafone, for example, could benefit from the proposals as they stood as it “will probably still sell ‘Eurotraveller’ £3/€5 per day to use your bundle in the EU”.
At the same time, this person added, small telecoms companies without widespread European networks “will suffer a negative gross margin, making them less price competitive at home”. This is because they would still need to pay for wholesale rates to other European networks, while also not charging customers for roaming up to the “fair use” level.
The proposals say: “To prevent anomalous or abusive usage of retail roaming services, roaming providers may apply a ‘fair use clause’ to the consumption of regulated retail roaming services provided at the applicable domestic price level, by reference to fair use criteria.” This criteria will in part refer to the average European consumption.
Neelie Kroes, the outgoing commission vice-president and who announced the original proposals to look at roaming rates, said: “We feel the Italian presidency text has all the essential building blocks needed to push the telecoms market forward: ending roaming, a net neutrality guarantee, more co-operation on spectrum and consumer protection. It lacks some of the ambition of the commission text but it’s a good basis for further negotiations.”