International Insights – March 2009
An Update on Global Communications Issues
INTUG remains active all over the world, and landmark decisions are being influenced in many areas as indicated below to encourage investment and innovation whilst preserving competition and enabling consistency in international telecommunications services.
Asia Pacific
Many large countries in the region are world leaders in broadband, helped by high-density populations in apartment buildings, making infrastructure easier and cheaper to deploy. Smaller Asia-Pacific countries, including Australia and New Zealand, are also showing a strong determination to use communications technology for economic advantage and social development, demonstrated by Government commitment in both countries to contribute funding on a large scale to accelerate development.
INTUG is an official guest organisation at APECTel (the APEC Telecommunications and IT Working Group), which plays an important role in policy-setting in the region. INTUG will be represented at the next APECTel meeting, in Singapore from 13-18 April, participating in steering groups and helping organise an Industry Roundtable. The meeting will include special workshops on international mobile roaming charges, submarine cable protection, universal access, and safer Internet environments for children. Those interested to know more about APECTel should contact the INTUG member with whom they are associated.
United States
Following input to the Obama transition team arguing for a competitive open architecture for telecommunications, through one of INTUG’s associate members (Paul Budde), user input to the Presidential team has shifted to “Smart Telecoms”, showing how joined up government electronically can improve the speed and quality of information-based public services, and how communications can generate economic growth and cost efficiencies. Telecoms is seen increasingly as an engine of growth globally, and the Barack Obama administration is welcoming ideas on how to harness the powers of telecommunications.
Europe
The Commission’s recently published 14th Annual Progress report on the “single Market” in telecoms presents positive evidence of the value of competition, but fixed incumbent market shares have now stabilised. The sector now represents nearly 3% of EU GDP. Fixed voice revenues continue to decline at 5% per year. Mobile penetration is now up to 119% and average mobile monthly bills have fallen by a third to €24 in 4 years, but there are wide variations with mobile voice prices ranging from €0. 05 to €0. 27 per minute.
At the time of writing, the final outcome of the Framework Review was still in the melting pot, with a key “trialogue” discussion likely to be crucial. The main issue has been how to deal with the German insistence on special relaxation of access rules for its incumbent, with regard to investment in NGA Networks. What is at stake is the preservation of open competition in broadband access services. If the ex-monopoly incumbents, such as Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica, are allowed to monopolise use of their investment in infrastructure access, there will be no choice for business customers, and no prospect of seamless transborder networks. Progress has been made in other areas of the review, following strong representation by INTUG and others, but this remains a show-stopper.
On a lighter note, the regulatory group called ERG/IRG has yet another name after BERTand GERT – it’s BEREC (Body of European Regulators of Electronic Communications)! Monica Horten of Iptegrity has also reported that “Political deals are being done which remove users’ rights to distribute Internet content, and impose conditions permitting broadband providers to limit access to specified websites, or premium paid-for Internet. Net neutrality, and millions of Internet businesses, are under threat if this goes ahead. ”
International Roaming Charges
The EU Industry Committee has set new roaming call price caps for 2010 to mid-2012. From July 2010 the maximum charge for making a mobile phone call from another EU Member State will fall to €0. 40 from €0. 46 per minute. The maximum for receiving a call will be €0. 16 per minute. Travellers should pay no more than €0. 11 per SMS sent (the current EU average is €0. 29), and will no longer pay for receiving a roaming voicemail message while in the EU. There has been good news on roaming elsewhere too.
Costs for surfing the web and downloading data on mobile phones while abroad will also be more transparent in the EU, with protection against “bill shocks”. MEPs considered the proposed cap for data roaming (e. g. downloading and sending emails from mobiles), too high at €1. 00 per Mb and lowered it to €0. 50, but measured in Kb to avoid rounding up. Fixed and Mobile Termination Rates
INTUG is encouraged by EU progress on reductions in these charges, which are highly inconsistent and many times greater than cost. A steeper glide path extended to 2012 has broad agreement, with some protection for new entrants. The latest EU proposals would reduce Mobile Termination Rates by 70% over the next 3 years. This has become a key issue, not just in the EU, but globally, and is seen as an anti-competitive tax on trade.
INTUG Affairs
April is a busy month for INTUG. Ernie Newman is representing INTUG at APECTel as noted above, Nick White is speaking at a VIB Workshop on NGA Roll-out on 22 April, and Leonard Pera is at the Lisbon ITU World Telecom Policy Forum (WTPF) from 21-24 April, which covers convergence, Internet-related public policy matters, NGA Networks and emerging regulatory issues. The forum starts with a strategic dialogue on how the use of telecommunications services can help recovery from the growing economic crisis.
INTUG’s next meeting is in Brussels on 19-20 May. The first day is a conference entitled “Open Markets for Communications in Tomorrow’s World”. Confirmed speakers include Christian Hocepied from DG Competition, Martin Selmayr, spokesman for Viviane Reding from DG Infosoc, Professor Ian Lloyd, an expert on Security, Sam Paltridge from OECD, and Hakan Ohlsen from Ericsson who will be speaking on wireless futures. The agenda, plus administrative details and registrations details can be found here. The second day reviews INTUG’s strategy and priorities, sharing of best practice for responding to the economic crisis, country reports and members affairs. Details can be found here.
This newsletter was coordinated by Nick White, Executive Vice President, INTUG
