Kroes may replace Reding, as Europe's new telecoms regime becomes law

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Kroes may replace Reding, as Europe's new telecoms regime becomes law

By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 26 November, 2009

READ MORE: Spectrum | Europe | Regulator | UMTS

Carriers that had hoped for a more friendly face at the European Commission than the current telecoms chief Viviane Reding may be disappointed. When the EC reshuffles its key posts at the start of next year, the person hotly tipped to replace Reding is the current competition commissioner Neelie Kroes, whose reputation is as fiersome as Reding's, especially in technology, in the wake of her hardline approach to Intel and Microsoft.

The EC says decisions over the new posts have not yet been finalized but Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende, in an interview, seemed confident his candidate would get the telecoms post. "Kroes will get a portfolio that deals with the future of Europe in which she will address issues such as ecommerce, digitalization, broadband and mobile phones," he said.

Meanwhile, the framework within which the new commissioner will work - and one of Reding's most significant legacies - was finally approved by the European Parliament, reforming telecoms rules for the EU significantly. The new laws are ostensibly about strengthening the rights of phone and internet users, by boosting competition between operators, and after years of lobbying, debate and trimming of excesses, they passed this final hurdle with almost no resistance.

The EU telecom reform package consists of five separate directives - the Framework Directive, the Access Directive, the Authorization Directive, the Universal Service Directive and the e-Privacy Directive, and also allows for the establishment of a single European Body of Telecoms Regulators (BEREC), which will be able to control and co-ordinate the national regulators.

The mandate to investigate the creation of a single regulator came from the European Parliament as far back as 1997 but the EC has only now felt it was ready to follow through. The super regulator should have a special role in areas that have pan-regional implications such as VoIP, mobile termination charges and roaming charges - where variations in approach from different countries has often created an uneven competitive landscape. BEREC will be set up next spring, creating a body almost twice as powerful as the US FCC, in terms of reach and spend. The remainder of the legislation must find its way, more or less unchanged, onto the statute books of the 27 EU countries by June 2011.

The new legislation supports the idea that no citizen can have internet access removed on grounds of piracy or other abuse until they have received a court hearing, but some individual countries aim to legislation, supported by pro-content lobbies, that allows a 'three strikes' approach, whereby ISPs (or government agencies) can immediately cut off an alleged perpetrator after a third abuse. The EU ruling makes it clear that that this power should only reside with a court - chances are this principle will be tested in short order.

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