EU Commission approves the UK national telecoms regulator Ofcom's proposed regulation of fixed line phone services

The national telecoms regulator of the United Kingdom, Ofcom, notified the European Commission and all EU national regulators of a draft regulatory measure withdrawing most of the obligations placed on telecom operators in the retail telephony markets in the UK. These are the markets for analogue and digital (ISDN) telephone lines and calls for consumers and businesses.

At the time of the first review of these markets undertaken in 2003, Ofcom found that British Telecom plc (BT) in the UK and Kingston Communications (KCOM) in the Hull area were dominant in almost all the telephony markets concerned and imposed several obligations to resolve the lack of effective competition.

Ofcom now finds that in the UK (excluding the Hull area) the fixed line telephony services are largely competitive, with the exception of ISDN access. Ofcom proposes to remove all retail obligations from BT, even with regard to ISDN access, as it believes that wholesale remedies are sufficient to tackle competition problems at the retail level. In the Hull area, however, Ofcom concludes that KCOM remains dominant on the relevant markets and proposes to maintain the existing obligations.

What has the Commission said in its letter sent?

The Commission has approved Ofcom's draft measure concerning the retail markets for analogue and digital (ISDN) telephone access lines and calls for consumers and businesses.

What does the national telecoms regulator of the UK have to do now?

Under EU law, Ofcom may now adopt the draft measure.

Source: European Commission, 8th June, 2009

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