European Parliament approves single telecoms regulator

The European Parliament has promised a level playing field for telecoms operators

The European Parliament has today voted in favour of a single telecoms market for Europe, albeit with some compromises.

The vote, which is the result of the European Commission's proposals from November last year, will boost rights for businesses and consumers by providing a range of benefits for users and telecoms firms, the parliament claimed.

EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding said: "Today's vote is good news for European consumers. The European Parliament has voted in favour of a strong and competitive single telecoms market without borders for cross-border services, competition and investment in Europe.

"This will level the playing field for telecoms operators in Europe, enhance legal certainty and broaden consumer choice."

As reported by vnunet.com, it was expected that the parliament would not approve a centralised telecoms regulator but instead push for a watered down solution.

The body is smaller than the European Commission had hoped, said Reding, and will not have any responsibility for data security. However, it will have a system of checks and balances for regulators, which she welcomed.

"Parliament ensures that measures proposed by a national telecoms regulator, like market analyses and regulatory remedies, cannot be adopted when called into question by both the new European telecoms regulator and the European Commission," she said.

"In so doing, parliament has found a sound compromise between consistency and subsidiarity in the interest of an efficiently functioning single market that I very much appreciate."

The European Parliament has also made it more economical for telecoms firms to invest in high-speed fibre optical broadband, saying that it wants operators to receive "a fair return on investment" for allowing access to new fibre optic networks, including a substantial risk premium.

The Commission intends to give more detailed regulatory guidance on such next-generation access networks at the beginning of next year.