European justice and home affairs ministers could decide Thurs. the scope of a controversial proposal aimed at forcing communications service providers (CSPs) to hold Internet and telecom traffic data for law enforcement agencies. At its meeting that day, the Justice & Home Affairs (JHA) Council will consider the draft framework decision floated by the U.K., France, Sweden and Ireland. As originally proposed, the decision would require retention for 12-36 months. In Oct., however, the European Presidency proposed making 12 months the maximum (CD Oct 19 p9).
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.
The U.K.’s telecom regulator is taking the wrong approach to broadband competition, a consumer initiative said Tues. Instead of trying to force British Telecom (BT) to open its networks to competitors, the goal of the Office of Communications (Ofcom) should be to increase end users’ access to all networks, the Access to Broadband Campaign (ABC) said. The imminent departure of BT Retail chief Pierre Danon -- and the collapse of Britain’s “regional aggregation body” system, which aimed to pool public sector broadband demand for bigger discounts to allow infrastructure to be brought to areas of the country where it’s not now economically feasible for suppliers -- show the pressure being imposed on the market by the way the U.K. operates, ABC CEO Brian Condon told us. Danon may have realized how difficult BT Retail will be to run after Ofcom’s proposal to open up broadband competition by forcing the incumbent either to change its behavior or face a competition investigation (CD Nov 19 p5), he said. ABC wants to see radical changes in the way telecom products are defined, Condon said. The costs of moving data should relate to the costs of providing the service, not the products available. “Middle-mile” transport of data should be handled via packet-switched Internet Protocol (IP) networks, not circuit-switched public switched telephone networks, he said. Proper competition in the middle mile would spur alternate operators to build capacity to capture traffic, allowing them to share proportionally in the transport of data, he said (whatever network is most able to carry traffic at a particular time would do so and derive the revenue from its carriage). ABC is attempting to put together a consortium to bid for R&D funding from the Dept. of Trade & Industry, Condon said. The money would be used for a specific trial of the new model in a small set of local area exchanges, giving industry a chance to see how it works. The govt. should force the creation of such an internal IP network, ABC said. However, it said, “so far there seems to be no recognition of these issues within govt.”
GENEVA -- Ending 3 days of tough debate, delegates at last week’s meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Standing Committee on Copyright & Related Rights (SCCR) edged closer to agreement on a treaty aimed at updating IP protections for broadcasters. “Substantial progress” was made toward narrowing differences on key issues, WIPO said Mon. Broadcasters called the meeting a success, and webcasters said they'll probably win some protection for their broadcast signals. Civil society groups, on the other hand, said developing countries are being bullied into submission.
British Telecom (BT) must offer competitors true equal access to its network or face antitrust investigation, the U.K. Office of Communications (Ofcom) said Thurs. In a consultation document issued as part of the 2nd phase of its strategic review of Britain’s telecom sector, the regulator laid out 3 options for dealing with what it called “economic bottlenecks” in BT’s system. None would require a BT breakup. Ofcom suggested that if BT cleaned up its act enough to spur competition, some wholesale and retail markets could be deregulated. Competitive telecom groups said they were pleased with Ofcom’s approach, but warned that changing BT’s monopoly mentality would be challenging.
A proposal last week by an Italian political party to tax SMS text messages riled consumers and prompted the country’s telecom minister to call the idea “idiocy.” Mobile operators aren’t discussing it, a Telecom Italia spokesman said, because the proposal won’t go anywhere. But Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was reported to be considering a 0.01-euro tax -- which could bring in nearly 540 million euro (about $700 million) -- in order to give tax breaks to companies and employees. The consumer group AltroConsumo criticized the proposal, saying consumers already pay for text messaging at widely varying and confusing rates. A tax on SMS would be a further injury to consumer rights and guarantees, the group said. Last week, Communications Minister Maurizio Gasparri said the tax would “be an idiocy.” Gasparri was quoted as saying the telecom sector is burdened already by significant fiscal responsibilities and that an SMS tax is the most unpopular choice one could make. European mobile operators think specific taxes on communications are “not in the best interests of the countries concerned,” said a GSM Europe spokesman. No such tax exists in Europe now, and suggesting the idea is “always a danger” because govts. like to generate revenue, he said. Mobile operators’ concern would be that such a tariff would stifle one of the great benefits of being able to communicate, he said. Italian mobile operators haven’t said anything about the proposal because it’s “just political talk,” said the Telecom Italia spokesman. It’s unlikely to happen because Gasparri disparaged it, he said. Operators perceive it “as a political provocation,” the spokesman said. The idea for an SMS tax arose in the Philippines, but the proposal reportedly has suffered a setback due to a wave of consumer protests.
The FCC’s approach to broadband over power lines (BPL) represents a “good balancing” of the interests between radio users and broadband competitors, but the European Commission (EC) doesn’t have the authority to take the same action, a member of the European power line communications (PLC) industry said Tues. Unlike the FCC - - which recently set technical and administrative standards for BPL, known as power line communications (PLC) in Europe) -- the EC must wait for the European Telecom Standards Institute (ETSI) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) to act, said Bernd Wirth, mgr.-strategy & regulation for Germany-based Power Plus Communications. PLC providers are “comfortable” with current regulations, but the radio community has been pressing for tighter anti-interference requirements more than 5 years, Wirth said. Uncertainty about what new standards ETSI and CENELEC might publish is making would-be PLC providers nervous, he said. The EC is working on a proposal aimed at easing regulatory barriers to PLC, but that recommendation would provide merely a framework for regulation, not the actual technical standards, Wirth said. Because telecom companies participate in ETSI and CENELEC discussions, it’s not likely there will be tougher standards, he said. But energy companies and utilities remain concerned about the EC recommendation being waylaid by the standards organizations, he said, and that concern may be contributing to PLC’s current lack of success in Europe despite commercial rollouts by “a few brave companies” in Austria, Germany and Spain. ETSI and CENELEC have tried 3-4 years to craft PLC standards but have failed to agree, Wirth said. They're now looking at a new approach, he said, but it’s difficult to say whether it will be adopted.
Citing a predicted doubling of global demand for satellite-based Internet circuits the next 5 years, British Telecom (BT) said recently it was developing new technology aimed at tripling the capacity of existing satellite communication links. The system is designed for use over large-scale satellite links which carry high bandwidth data, including ISP backbone connections, videolinks and corporate use, and military satellite communications. BT is looking for a satellite modem manufacturer to collaborate with, a spokesman said.
Raising questions about who will head up several European Commission (EC) directorates handling telecom- and Internet-related issues, EC Pres.-Designate Manuel Barroso Wed. sought a postponement of the scheduled European Parliament (EP) vote on his proposed slate of new commissioners. “Barroso asked for more time” to come up with a more palatable team and EP members (MEPs) were happy to agree, an EP spokesman told us. The move could involve shuffling some candidates and dropping others. MEPs have been most critical of Barroso’s choice for Justice, Freedom & Security -- Rocco Buttiglione, who has been skewered for his outspoken antigay opinions and view that women should stay at home. After hearings, 2 parliamentary committees this month submitted widely divergent assessments of Buttiglione to EP Pres. Josep Borrell Fontelles. The Committee on Legal Affairs said Buttiglione satisfactorily answered questions about such issues as protection of intellectual property rights and was qualified to serve as a commissioner. The committee pointed out, however, that several political groups “expressed reservations” about his ability to take “positive political action in the area of citizens’ rights,” particularly to combat discrimination. But members of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice & Home Affairs couldn’t agree on a joint assessment of Buttiglione and voted by a small margin against his nomination to lead the Justice directorate. Barroso’s candidate for Competition Comr., Neelie Kroes, also garnered negative reviews from some quarters. In its report to the EP pres., the Economic & Monetary Affairs Committee said most of its members were “to some degree disappointed with her performance at the hearing, finding her detailed grasp of certain specific subjects to be insufficient.” MEPs were worried particularly about Kroes’s many former business interests and asked Barroso to clarify how antitrust cases in which she may have a conflict of interest will be handled. Information Society Directorate nominee Viviane Reding passed muster with the Committee on Industry, Research & Energy, but the committee expressed concern over her lack of deep technical knowledge of e-communications and Information Society matters. The panel also said 2 of its smaller political groups were disappointed with Reding’s comments on software patents. Telecom and Internet issues also fall under the jurisdiction of the Internal Market directorate, whose proposed chief is Charlie McCreevy. In its report to the EP pres., the Committee on the Internet Market & Consumer Protection found McCreevy to be a suitable candidate. Barroso now can start from scratch, and European telecom and Internet groups are watching. The European Telecom Network Operators’ Assn. said it “fully respects” Barroso’s decision not to submit the new Commission to a vote. However, it said, it hopes Barroso retains Reding as his choice for Information Society & Media Comr. A huge issue for ISPs is data retention, which falls within the jurisdiction of Justice (because it involves cooperation on law enforcement matters), Internal Market, and Information Society. European ISPs will be “very worried” if the next Justice chief fails to discuss issues such as data retention with all those interested, said EuroISPA Regulatory Affairs Mgr. Richard Nash. The new commission was supposed to be in place Nov. 1. At a news briefing Wed., Barroso wouldn’t specify when he intended to introduce his new team but suggested it could be within the next couple weeks.
European countries are moving toward agreement on a European Commission (EC) proposal aimed at easing regulatory barriers to broadband deployment over power lines (BPL). At its Oct. 13-14 meeting, the EC’s Communications Committee (COCOM) reached consensus on a draft recommendation members think “is the right thing to do,” a Commission official said. The recommendation tracks the approach the FCC recently took on broadband over power line, he said. Telcos say they're committed to opening broadband markets, but remain concerned about interference issues. The technology is called powerline communications (PLC) in Europe.
The European Presidency proposed changing its plan to mandate retention of communications data, decreasing the maximum retention period from 36 months to 12. In an Oct. 14 note to the working party on cooperation in criminal matters, the Dutch Presidency said officials revised the draft framework decision in light of discussions of the working group last month and a Sept. 21 European Commission workshop of traffic data retention. While the revision ends the controversial 36-month maximum retention period, it still doesn’t sit well with ISPs, a EuroISPA official said.