Press Release: Telecoms: Commission raises serious doubts about Lithuania’s proposed definition of access network markets

The European Commission on 11 March 2010 informed the Lithuanian national telecoms authority, Ryšių reguliavimo tarnyba (RRT), that it has serious doubts about its definition of the markets for access services used by alternative operators to connect final consumers to telecoms services such as telephone and internet.

RRT has defined two separate markets for access to copper and fibre networks close to the final customer, called the "last mile" or "local loop". RRT makes a distinction between unbundled copper loops and unbundled optical fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) loops. The distinction has not been justified in accordance with the principles of competition law. At the same time, RRT does not include unbundled fibre-to-the-building (FTTB) loops in its defined markets. While FTTH lines are deployed directly to a customer's home, FTTB lines only reach a building which can comprise several households. In the Commission's view, this means that alternative telecoms operators (other than the incumbent TEO) could find it difficult to access TEO's networks to reach final consumers regardless of the technology used. This approach could restrict competition, discourage investment in Next Generation Access broadband networks by both incumbent and alternative operators and in the end lead to higher prices and lower quality services for customers. During the following two months the Commission will call for and assess further clarifications and market data from both RRT and market players. In the meantime, RRT cannot adopt its proposed measure.