Press Release - European Commission halts German plans to set fixed termination rates 3-times above EU-average
Following the "serious doubts" letter sent today by the Commission, BNetzA now has three months to work with the Commission and the body of European telecoms regulators (BEREC) on a solution to this case. In the meantime implementation of the proposal is suspended.
Background
At the beginning of February 2013, BNetzA notified the Commission of its plans to regulate fixed termination markets based on a method calculation different to that set out in the Commission's Recommendation on Termination Rates. BNetzA proposes to use the Long-Run Average Incremental Cost+ (LRAIC+) method of calculation, whereas the Commission recommends the Bottom Up Long-Run Average Incremental Cost (pure BU-LRIC) approach.
This is the second time this year that the Commission has disagreed with Germany on its manner of implementing national remedies under Article 7a of the Telecoms Directive (IP/13/180)
"Article 7" of the Telecoms Framework Directive requires national telecoms regulators to notify the Commission, BEREC (the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications) and telecoms regulators in other EU countries, of measures that they plan to introduce to address the lack of effective competition in the markets in question.
The new rules enable the Commission to adopt further harmonisation measures in the form of recommendations or (binding) decisions if divergences in the regulatory approaches of national regulators, including remedies, persist across the EU in the longer term.
Useful Links
The Commission's letter sent to the German regulator will be published at:
https://circabc.europa.eu/w/browse/0fc4cbf9-3412-45fe-84bb-e6d7ba2f010e
Follow Neelie Kroes on Twitter:
Contacts : Ryan Heath (+32 2 296 17 16), Twitter: @RyanHeathEU Linda Cain (+32 2 299 90 19) |