OXFORD, United Kingdom-New proposals from the European Commission covering how telecom operators will be regulated have been met with hostility by GSM Europe, the European arm of the GSM Association. The group claimed the proposals will significantly increase the chances of EC intervention in many aspects of the wireless industry because of a simplification of the threshold tests involved.
The idea behind these tests is to ensure that all areas of trade are treated fairly, and they are designed to act as multi-industry measurements to ensure certain conditions are met before the EC is allowed to intervene. However, GSM Europe maintained the manner in which the tests have been designed reduces the requirements to the point where the EC can intervene in just about any telecom issue.
“If the EC amendments go through, one of Europe’s greatest success stories, the stunning growth of mobile services across the continent, will be put at risk,” said a GSM Europe spokesman.
The center of this concern would seem to be based on how to decide which companies have significant market power (SMP) in any given sector. The association said that, once a regulator has decided that an operator enjoys SMP status, it can impose obligations on the company in question, which could mean imposing harsh price cuts. GSM Europe said mobile tariffs are already falling across Europe, without the need for regulatory intervention.
