EU settles internet access dispute

The European Union moved closer to gaining more powers to open the networks of companies such as Deutsche Telekom when EU lawmakers settled a dispute over the unrelated issue of Internet access for consumers.

Representatives of the European Parliament and EU national governments struck an accord on balancing individuals’ Internet access and the protection of copyright, clearing the way for a broader package meant to give regulators new authority to expose dominant telecommunication companies to greater competition.

“This package really pushes liberalisation of the sector,” Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a Spanish member who was one of the Parliament negotiators, said today in Brussels after the overnight deal with the Swedish government, current holder of the 27-nation EU’s rotating presidency.

The full Parliament and the governments must still give their approval, usually a formality after such agreements among negotiators.

The draft legislation holds out the prospect of greater competition for incumbent operators that also include France Telecom and Telefonica by establishing a pan-European agency responsible for enforcing market-opening decisions by national regulators. The agency will be called the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications.

The new rules also allow the European Commission, the EU’s regulatory arm, to ensure that national market-opening steps in the bloc are consistent. The commission will work with the new body in this area.

In addition, the new legislation gives national regulators across the EU the power to split the telecom networks and services of dominant companies into separate units, a measure known as “functional separation.”

The dispute over Internet access arose six months ago when the Parliament approved an amendment stipulating that a government authority couldn’t shut off Internet service “without a prior ruling by the judicial authorities.” This provision was a response to a French measure, since reformulated, to impose sanctions on households that illegally download music and movies from the Internet.

Bloomberg