Ofcom  published a consultation on variations to BT’s Undertakings under the Enterprise Act 2002 in respect of: BT’s consultation principles with respect to the deployment of its Next Generation Network (NGN), and an obligation on BT to publish its NGN plan of record on a regular basis; the processes and products used to manage accommodation within BT’s exchanges; and the requirement to implement physical separation of certain computer network systems. The consultation document can be found here.  

Source: OFCOM
 

The 8^th Global Symposium for Regulators took place from 11 to 13 March 2008 in Pattaya, Thailand. This major ITU event focused on best practices in regulatory measures to foster and encourage sharing of infrastructure resources as a means of stimulating investment and growth in the ICT sector.

Ten discussion papers were developed for this year's GSR:

1. What do we mean by 6 Degrees of Sharing?
2. Extending Open Access to National Fibre Backbones in Developing Countries
3. International Gateway Liberalization: the Singapore experience
4. Breaking Up is Hard to Do: The Emergence of Functional Separation as a Regulatory Remedy
5. Mobile Sharing
6. Spectrum Sharing
7. WRC-07 Results and Impact on Terrestrial Broadband Wireless Access Systems
8. End-User Sharing
9. International Mobile Roaming Regulation – An Incentive for Cooperation
10. IPTV and Mobile TV: New Challenges for Regulators

Comments are welcome by 13 April 2008 at: gsr08@itu.int.   

More information on the event as well as the presentations from the panel sessions can be found at the GSR 2008 website.

See: Press release 

Source: ITU

Poland reiterates the government's support of a European Union drive for functional separation that would see a split of dominant Polish TP.
The feasibility of functional separation of a wholesale division from a retail division of an operator with significant market power is currently being analysed and consulted. Since October 2007 the President of the Office of Electronic Communications has been analysing the situation in the Polish market and consulting with the telecommunications environment whether it is justified to introduce an extraordinary regulatory remedy of functional separation. Works will continue until early 2008.

See Web Page

Source: UKE

According to Telegeography, the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers has approved a new plan to privatise fixed line former monopoly Ukrtelecom, the country’s only 3G mobile operator. The state intends to sell its 67.8% stake to an investor via a tender, whilst retaining a ‘blocking’ shareholding of 25% plus one share.

See more

Source: Telegeography

To offer its customers high-definition television (HDTV), Belgacom has invested several hundred million euro in a new VDSL network. However, based on an interpretation of the regulatory framework, the BIPT wants to oblige Belgacom to open up this new network to its competitors. Belgacom says that as long as the regulatory authorities have not conducted a proper analysis of the broadband markets, particularly in Flanders where Telenet is manifestly the dominating operator, Belgacom rejects this new obligation. This move  will be  watched across Europe. The impasse is set to worsen across Europe as incumbent telcos oppose the European Union's imposition of functional separation as compared to lighter regulation of cable operators. 

See Press Release
Source: Belgacom

Italy’s Communications Ministry has revealed its proposals for strengthening the country’s telecoms regulator, Agcom, to allow it to oversee the ‘functional separation’ of Telecom Italia’s fixed line retail and networks businesses. The government is keen to push ahead with changes to Telecom Italia’s structure to ensure that the bulk of the country’s wireline infrastructure remains under national ownership; a number of foreign firms are interested in acquiring a controlling stake in Telecom Italia which is being offloaded by the Pirelli group. The new fixed line networks unit will incorporate all of Telecom Italia’s local loop connections plus ‘all the elements necessary to provide broadband access,’ the Ministry said in a statement. The new legislation is being added to an existing bill on liberalisation and is expected to be in force by the fourth quarter of this year, Dow Jones reports.

Source: Telegeography

Government asks PTS to present proposals on operational separation, lighter forms of regulation. The Swedish government Thursday said it has requested the national telecom regulator, PTS, to develop and present a proposal that could lead to the separation of telecom access networks from other operations at telecom operators which have what regulators deem significant market power. The government said PTS will also investigate a lighter form of regulation, whereby telecom operators with significant market power in access networks accept other measures to secure nondiscrimination and transparency. PTS's work is aimed at creating clear rules for all companies active in the telecom market. The government said PTS is requested to present its proposals on June 15, 2007. Currently access to telecom networks controlled by operators deemed to have significant market power is regulated in a general law on electronic communications. A new regulation should aim to create organizational separation and independent decision-making within a vertically integrated operator, the government said. PTS has in earlier proposals suggested that Sweden's largest telecom operator TeliaSonera AB be forced to separate its wholesale organization - which sells capacity on the company's fixed-line network - from its retail operation. In PTS's earlier proposal, submitted on Feb. 15, the regulator suggested a model for separating TeliaSonera's network from its other operations based on BT Group PLC's Openreach structure in the UK. Source: Total Telecom

Italy's telecoms regulator, Agcom, has confirmed that Telecom Italia could be forced to spin off its fixed-line network into a separate and autonomous unit with a separate management by the end of the year. Speaking in an interview published by the Italian daily, Corriere della Sera today, the head of Agcom, Corrado Calabro, said a decision would have to be made by end of the year. "By December 31, either we do a deal or the regulator should be able to impose the separation of the network," he said. Apart from the functional reasons of separating the fixed-line unit so as to give impartial access to all operators in the country, the separation has assumed greater expediency following the Italian government's quest to retain national control of Telecom Italia's fixed network, which it considers national assets. Source: Global Insight

New Zealand's Minister of Communications has released a consultation document on the operational separation of Telecom NZ. The focus of the document is the planned three-way split of Telecom NZ into network, wholesale and retail divisions. Comments are requested by April 27, 2007. A final determination will be released in June, after which Telecom will have 20 days to prepare a draft separation plan. The split is expected to take effect in September. For more information, see http://www.med.govt.nz/templates/ContentTopicSummary____26310.aspx  The consultation document can be found here:http://www.med.govt.nz/upload/45545/operational-separation-consultation-document.pdf

Background documents that informed the consultation document:
Review of Equivalence Models and Their Potential Application in New Zealand: Report for MED  [ Published 04 April 2007 ] This report clarifies the definitions and potential applications of equivalence in New Zealand, with particular reference to Ofcom's experience with BT in the UK.
Operational Separation: Establishment of a Separate Access Network Services Unit  [ Published 15 February 2007 ] This paper develops and describes a model for the Access Network Services business unit.
Investigation of the BT Separation Model: Report for MED  [ Published 15 December 2006 ] This report provides detailed information on the British Telecom separation model.
Six Degrees of Separation: Operational Separation as a Remedy in European Telecommunications Regulation  [ Published 01 October 2006 ] This paper identifies the problem which separation is intended to tackle, lists a number of possible variants, and discusses the experience in the UK.

Back to Top