Implementation of Community telecommunications rules. 5th report 1999

The European Parliament adopted the resolution drafted by Reino PAASILINNA (PES, Finland) on the Commission's fifth report on the Commission's regulatory package. Whilst it welcomes the implementation of the 1998 regulatory package, it noted that in some cases, implementation is purely formal. Parliament expressed its concern at the fact that limited offer at the local loop level has prevented liberalisation from providing its full potential to most users, and from reduction of the cost of access to the internet to a level where it would become affordable to all citizens. It suggested that a unified approach to licensing would be valuable in order to improve market operation and spectrum availability. Parliament regretted that the Commission report did not include any figures on fees for the use of radio frequecies. Operators, and particularly incumbents, should provide interconnection and co-location on commercial terms. There are still too many obstacles to new investors, particularly for pan-European operators. The Commission is asked to facilitate market opening by publishing best practice benchmarks for market openness and a ranking of Member States for market openness performance. The Parliament also asked that carrier pre-selection be implemented in an easy and transparent way for consumers. It acknowledged that the liberalisation of the market has not had adverse consequences on the availability of universal service but was concerned that access to new services does not seem to have spread beyond the main urban centres, which runs counter to the need for regional equality and the equal rights of citizens in society. The Commission is asked to monitor universal service provision closely to ensure that market mechanisms deliver enhanced access for all EU citizens, wherever they live.�