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EC Targets German Mobile Fees
(04 Dec 2008, BWCS Staff)Following yesterday's news that the French regulator is to force mobile operators to cut termination rates, it has emerged that the EC is demanding more information on German rates from the national regulator the BNetzA. According to press reports, the EC has sent a letter to the Berlin-based watchdog demanding that it hands over information on all German mobile operators' termination rates.
The EC says it needs the data as part of the Article 7 procedure for EU clearance of national regulatory measures. Apparently the BNetzA has so far failed to provide the information on two separate occasions - once in 2006 and again this year - when it provided an analysis of the market for wholesale mobile charges in Germany without including the actual rates charged by operators. As a result, the Commission has not been able to formally comment on the rates.
The German regulator claims the rates are not required as part of the Article 7 procedure, and its short ten week deadline for approving operator rates would not give it time to notify the EC. For its part, the Commission said national procedures were not enough to justify non-compliance with the process.
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