Commissaris Reding (telecommunicatie) op bezoek bij Griekse telecomwaakhond (en)

Today, EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding met Professor Nikitas Alexandridis, the President of Hellenic Telecommunications & Post Commission (EETT). He is the chief telecom regulator of Greece.

They discussed the state of telecoms regulation in Greece and the competitive situation on the Greek broadband market and exchanged views on the forthcoming reform of the EU telecoms rules.

After the meeting, Commissioner Reding said: "I had a very constructive meeting with Professor Alexandridis today. I strongly support the valuable, independent work he is doing in Greece to ensure more competition on the market. We are both in full agreement that the independence of national telecom regulators must be fully respected, and that national telecom regulators must be well equipped to ensure the objectives of the EU telecom rules: effective competition on crucial markets, such as broadband access and tangible consumer benefits. This is why I am currently working on legislative proposals to strengthen further the independence of national telecom regulators and to achieve a more effective, more consistent application of EU telecom rules throughout the 27 Member States."

Professor Nikitas Alexandridis said after the meeting: "I appreciate the very useful dialogue with Commissioner Reding and the encouragement received from her today for the work of the Greek regulator. In the telecom sector, we agree as regards the final objectives and the instruments needed to achieve them. I congratulate the Commission for the proposals made yesterday to bring more competition to the energy markets, especially by introducing structural separation and a European Energy Authority. I encourage Commissioner Reding to be at least as ambitious in the forthcoming reform of the EU telecom rules. "

At the meeting, Commissioner Reding accepted the invitation, expressed by Professor Alexandridis in agreement with the chairman of the European Regulators Group (ERG), Roberto Viola, to participate in the forthcoming ERG meeting in Athens on 11 October.

Professor Nikitas ALEXANDRIDIS, telecom regulator of Greece

Mr. N. Alexandridis was born in Thessaloniki, Greece and graduated from Anatolia College in 1962. He carried out all his University studies in the U.S. where he received his B.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering from Ohio University and his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science and Computer Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

After working for a while in the U.S. industry, he returned to Greece. He was elected Professor of the first Chair of "Computer Science†established in Greece at the School of Engineering at the University of Patras. After that he was elected Professor of "Digital Systems and Computers†at the National Technical University of Athens, where he served for 5 years. Since 1984 he is Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the George Washington University, Washington DC, USA.

He has a long experience in industrial and governmental technology issues, in the private and public sectors, both in Greece and abroad. He was Greece's scientific representative in the European research program ESPRIT and was one of the first Professors in the governing board of the Greek Naval Research Centre for 5 years.

He has an extensive record of publications, with numerous monographs and publications in international scientific journals and prestigious conferences and is the author of 12 textbooks (3 in English, the remaining in Greek), and has participated in chairing and organising various international conferences and symposia. Moreover, he has been a member of assessment committees for the evaluation of scientific papers and research proposals, at an international level.

He was a founding member and the first President of the Greek Computer Society. He is a member of the Technical Chamber of Greece, is listed in a large number of Who's Who in the world, and has received a number of honours and awards.

Since August 2005 he is the President of the Hellenic Telecommunications & Post Commission (EETT).