Europe may have outstripped the U.S. in interactive digital TV (ITV) takeup, but the lack of uniform interoperability standards is an issue on both sides of the Atlantic. The European Commission (EC) has taken a wait-and-see approach to imposing a standard but will review its position this year. And while many European consumers have embraced ITV, European and U.S. sources said deployment has yet to reach critical mass in either place.
Dugie Standeford
Dugie Standeford, European Correspondent, Communications Daily and Privacy Daily, is a former lawyer. She joined Warren Communications News in 2000 to report on internet policy and regulation. In 2003 she moved to the U.K. and since then has covered European telecommunications issues. She previously covered the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and intellectual property law matters. She has a degree in psychology from Duke University and a law degree from the University of Tulsa College of Law.
Europe is losing out to the U.S. and Japan because of the European Commission’s (EC’s) failure to make next- generation broadband networks (NGNs) a priority, several key industry groups said this week. In response to an EC communication on challenges for the European information society beyond 2005, the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council Europe (Council), European Information, Communications, & Consumer Electronics Technology Industry Assn. (EICTA) and European Telecom Network Operators’ Assn. (ETNO) criticized the EC for omitting NGNs from its eEurope agenda.
The ITU and govts. shouldn’t manage either technology innovations such as e-numbering (ENUM) or Internet governance, Frode Greisen said Thurs. Greisen, who works at the Danish Information Technology (IT) Center for Research & Education, also is ICANN liaison on the Reseaux IP Europeens Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC) board. Last March, the IT Center looked into setting up the name server for a Danish ENUM domain so users could use the domain name system to direct communications to their Internet Protocol (IP) phones, e-mail and other outlets, Greisen said on a listserv. The IT Center wasn’t sure the idea would catch on because there are so many other domain names, he said, “but I work at a government agency whose mission includes piloting new technology.” Denmark’s telecom regulator was receptive, and the request was sent to RIPE NCC, which manages the ENUM top-level domain e164.arpa. The request then went to the ITU, which handles requests to operate country ENUM domains. The ITU in turn handed the request to the Danish regulator for a decision on who should manage the Danish ENUM domain, Greisen said. The regulator’s response “to this difficult situation was to hand over the case to their resort ministry (for Science, Technology & Development),” Greisen wrote. The ministry decided to hold a public hearing, and Greisen notified 160 organizations. They raised several “good arguments,” he said, including that ENUM name service management should be awarded based on an open tender, and that security, competition and rights should be thoroughly understood before any action was taken. However, he said, the only responses came from large and incumbent telcos, “who have to argue against all change that may threaten their existing businesses.” Small IP telephony companies weren’t at the table, he told us, because: (1) The govt. doesn’t have addresses for small operators because they don’t have to be licensed in Denmark. (2) Even if the small operators heard about the meeting, they would be too busy running their businesses to attend or consider whether ENUM would be useful to them. (3) Even if they found ENUM useful, they might be reluctant to take the time to answer a questionnaire. Greisen said he’s trying to convince the ministry to follow up as quickly as possible with another hearing which smaller companies could attend. ENUM is lagging in other countries as well, Greisen said. Several countries are running or intend to run pilots, but companies are unlikely to sign on to a service that could be temporary, he said. The result is that people are routing around ENUM via Skype and other technologies, leaving small IP telephony companies unable to interconnect as they could on ENUM, he said. The longer ENUM is left hanging, he said, the more likely larger IP telephony providers are to make do without it. Although Greisen doesn’t fault the ITU or the govt. in this case, he said the matter shows that Internet governance shouldn’t be left to either: “While I sometimes have reservations about ICANN, I think ICANN is preferable compared to governments, and setting up a new entity is likely to take time and effort with no reason to believe it would do better than ICANN.”
European incumbent telcos are urging the European Commission (EC) not to rush into a decision on a harmonized, pan-European freephone service for services of “significant public interest.” Last April, the EC’s Communications Committee (COCOM) began considering the need for such a service. Last month, the committee reviewed a working document that took into account comments from several member states. The group said 4 key issues must be addressed before launching such a service: (1) Ensuring that calls are completed from fixed and mobile networks, PBXs, public pay phones and hotels. (2) Ensuring citizens aren’t charged for freephone calls. (3) Ensuring there are adequate commercial arrangements between operators. (4) Making sure a specific service can be reached by dialing the same number in all member states. COCOM proposed that member states reserve the number range beginning with “116” for a future harmonized freephone service. It recommended the service be “of social importance” and “useful for a majority of citizens” in all member states. The service should be “strongly related” to subjects such as public security or safety, consumer protection and medical/social care, COCOM said. The nature of the service should be information, assistance and hotlines, such as in cases of disaster. Finally, the group said, purely commercial and entertainment services should be barred from using a 116 number. COCOM recommended that access code 116 be administered under the authority of the European Conference of Posts & Telecoms. But incumbents want the EC to understand the issues better before acting. “This proposal raises a series of technical issues linked to interconnection, to costs and to the fact that numbers in this range may be already used in certain member states for other kinds of services (like charities in France),” a spokesman for the European Telecom Network Operators’ Assn. (ETNO) said. He said the main question is whether a pan-European freephone would give users any value over what they already have at the national level. Last Sept., ETNO strongly recommended that no decision on the use of 116 be made without industry-wide consultations.
European telecom regulators should encourage the rollout of wide-screen TV in order to spur digital broadcasting, according to a study presented to the European Commission (EC) in Dec. With several of the “chicken-and-egg” problems that led to market failure in the 1990s now resolved, wide- screen format should be able to “play its role in the cluster” of DTV technologies, said Eurostrategies, a joint subsidiary of 3 consultancies -- BIPE Conseil (France), Interconnect Communications (U.K.) and European Research Assoc. (Belgium).
Europe, which failed in an attempt 15 years ago to launch high-definition TV (HDTV), is taking another look at the technology. At a Jan. 21 workshop in Brussels, the European Commission (EC) will try to create an “interoperability roadmap” for HDTV in order to have a better idea of how the market might emerge. But the fledgling industry -- there’s only one full-time HDTV service in Europe now -- faces several problems, including the lack of technical standards and HDTV content, and the need to convince skeptical consumers that HDTV is worth the price.
BRUSSELS -- European telecom regulators plan to address 4 hot issues in 2005, European Regulators Group (ERG) Chmn. Jorgen Andersen said here Wed. Speaking at the European Competitive Telecom Assn. annual regulatory conference, Andersen for the first time publicly unveiled the ERG’s proposed work program for next year, which includes VoIP, broadband, competition remedies under Europe’s new e-communications regulatory framework, and wholesale international roaming (WIR).
BRUSSELS -- The European Commission’s (EC) 10th annual report released this week found telcos’ attitudes toward the state of their sector somewhat optimistic, but it acknowledged “very clearly” that large challenges loom, said Peter Rodford, the head of unit of the Information Society Directorate Gen. that did the report. Meanwhile, several speakers said the document paints too rosy a picture of Europe’s telecom markets. Their comments came Wed. during day 2 of the European Competitive Telecom Assn. (ECTA) annual regulatory conference.
BRUSSELS -- The U.K. Office of Communications (Ofcom) decision to force British Telecom (BT) to give competitors equal access to its products or face antitrust investigation got a lot of attention from nonincumbent telcos. The regulator appears to be taking a first-of- its-kind approach that falls between structural and behavioral remedies, said attorney Ann La France. The outcome of Ofcom’s intervention in the U.K. telecom market could set precedents, several participants said at the European Competitive Telecom Assn. (ECTA) regulatory conference.
Although Europe’s e-communications sector is growing, serious problems remain, the European Commission (EC) said Mon. While competition is increasing in most electronic communications markets, regulation needs improvement in several key areas, the EC said in its 10th annual report to the European Council, European Parliament, European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on carrying out the e-communications regulatory framework. Incumbent telcos said the report showed the time is right for regulatory rollbacks, while new players urged govts. to stop market abuses they said block innovation.