Press Release: Telecommunications: Commission endorses, for a transitional period, Italian measures to encourage new market entrants in fixed telephony

The European Commission wrote to the Italian telecom authority AGCOM on 29 May 2006 advising that new entrants to the Italian telecom market may charge higher wholesale call termination rates than the dominant player Telecom Italia, but only for a transitional period of four years. The Commission however requires AGCOM to specify the details of a 4-year ‘glide path’ for reducing alternative network operators’ wholesale call termination rates. Moreover, to better safeguard consumer interests, AGCOM is asked to develop a cost model for calculating alternative network operators' termination rates that takes account of the need for them to become cost-efficient over time. The Commission’s decision is based on Article 7 of the EU Framework Directive for electronic communications (2002/21/EC), which requires the Commission to ensure that national regulatory authorities apply competition law principles consistently in this sector.

European Commission: Memo: MEMO/05/255: Electronic communications: the Article 7 procedure and the role of the Commission. Frequently Asked Questions, 14.7.05 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/05/255&format=HTML&aged=1&language=EN&guiLanguage=fr

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