The European Union’s quest to create a single telecom market has cleared a key hurdle. The Industry Research and Energy Committee approved the “Telecoms Single Market Regulation,” a package of new policies that include ending roaming and enacting a form of net neutrality. It will now go before the full European Parliament on April 3.
In addition to ending roaming charges and supposedly guaranteeing an open Internet, the policies aim to coordinate spectrum licensing for wireless broadband and increase transparency in Internet and broadband contracts, making it easier for customers to switch providers.
Neelie Kroes, VP of the European Commission, praised the vote. “This is about ensuring a dynamic, healthy, competitive telecoms sector, fit to face the future.”
However, not everyone is happy with the proposed rules concerning net neutrality, the policy that seeks to prevent blocking and degrading of content to favor some uses over others. Critics say the current net neutrality proposal has a loophole for “specialized services.”
“Today’s vote is a sign of the massive lobbying influence of big telecom operators over the European legislative process,” Miriam Artino, legal and policy analyst at La Quadrature du Net, told PC World. “The regulation’s big loopholes will have to be corrected when the European Parliament casts its final vote in a few weeks.”
More telecom news from Europe:
Vodafone’s acquisition of Spanish Ono sparks speculation on Italy: The U.K.-based telecom giant agreed to purchase the Spanish cable provider Ono for $10 billion on March 17, but market observers don’t think Vodafone is done expanding in Europe. Italy is Vodafone’s third largest market by sales, and CEO Vittoro Colao, who grew up in Italy, said his plans for the country involve a mix of “organic, commercial agreements and inorganic.”
Vivendi chooses to negotiate only with Numericable over SFR sale: After fielding bids from two billionaire-controlled companies, Vivendi has chosen to negotiate the sale of its telecom unit SFR with Numericable over the carrier Bouygues. The move avoids potential consolidation of the French telecom market. SFR is the second largest telecom in the country, while Bouygues is No. 3.
Uzbekistan investigations expand for Vimpelcom, TeliaSonora: On March 18, Vimpelcom added the U.S. Department of Justice to the list of agencies investigating its Uzbekistan operations. The Amsterdam-based carrier is already under the scrutiny of Dutch authorities and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Sweden-based TeliaSonora is also under investigation by Swedish authorities as well as by Dutch and U.S. agencies for its purchase of a 3G license in Uzbekistan. The scandal led the carrier to replace most of its leadership, including its CEO.
Deutsche Telekom to cut 4,900 jobs. A spokesperson confirmed on March 19 that the German carrier would cut 2,700 jobs this year and 2,200 jobs next year from T-Systems, its IT and consultancy unit.
Employee suicides at French carrier Orange raise alarm: Ten employees of the French telecom have taken their own lives in the first three months of 2014 — more than in all of 2013. The Observatory for Stress and Forced Mobility called the tragedies “a serious alert” and claimed that majority were “explicitly related to work.” The incidents bring up Orange’s troubled past. In 2008 and 2009, French Telecom, the carrier that would later become Orange, saw a wave of 35 employee suicides.
