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Telefonica, Vodafone say proposals are step in right direction; Telia says they lack a clear political vision.
Spectrum, roaming and network sharing are some of the potential problem areas in the European Commission’s proposed telecoms reforms, warned a group of telcos and a regulator this week.
During a panel at Total Telecom Congress on Tuesday, moderator Rob Bratby, partner at law firm Olswang, summarised the proposed changes as being mostly welcomed.
That summary was swiftly turned on its head by Michaela Angonius, head of group regulatory affairs at Telia Company, who criticised the regulations, particularly those regarding Gigabit broadband, saying the Commission has fallen short.
"Regulations should be consistent and avoid disruption of competition," she said.
"Does the proposal from the EC fulfil these criteria? No, according to Telia, it does not."
She said there has been "utter flip-flopping" on roaming and that the regulation is everything but clear. On net neutrality, "the regulations only apply to a small part of value chain and access legislation has been applied differently depending on what type of company is providing the service.
Angonius also said the Commission’s proposals fall short when it comes to Gigabit broadband, which require "loads of investment and spectrum" to deliver.
"You need a clear political vision not only on [the] telecoms industry but on the overall delivery of public services where the telecoms provider is an enabler of that vision.”
Nick Blades, director of spectrum policy and regulatory economics at Telefonica, was more positive, saying the regulations set the right agenda.
"We are at the beginning of the process and the rules proposed are not the rules that will come out in 18 months," he said.
"The right exam question for other stakeholders has been set and that is the question of the investment gap," he continued. "A total of €150 billion of investment is required in addition to the current status quo and that’s operator money, not public money, so how do you create the right investment incentive?"
Blades also identified what he saw as big wins in the regulations, including 25-year spectrum licences, spectrum only being paid for when it is received, and the ability for some member states to release spectrum when others cannot.
But in regards to the proposal to mandate network sharing in rural areas, Blades was less pleased.
"This is not the solution to coverage as it will lead to operators not building out their networks due to having to then open them to competitors."
A further word of warning came from Ofcom’s director of competition policy, Brian Potterill, about the EC’s aim to scrap roaming charges.
"The roaming regulation has come from the time when it used to be very expensive to roam but today this is not the case and it is not a huge consumer problem," he said. "There is a risk we end up throwing the baby out with the bath water and force each operator to buy wholesale from another market but don’t have a set price that makes the market work."
He went so far as to warn that consumers might not be able to access roaming services at all.
Meanwhile, Markus Reinisch, Vodafone’s group public policy director, welcomed the Commission’s new reform package and believes most in the industry share his optimism due to its focus on deregulation.
"The new code…is trying to create new incentives," he said. "How is it doing this? Through deregulation, and this package is a deregulatory package. A lot of controversy is taken out and that is why there is more welcoming of the package."
