Information on liberalisation and
regulation
of network industries and the
telecommunications sector
in English
You are right to look here since the problems tackled by my articles about
Austria in German language tend to occur in other countries as well.
Especially within the European Union even the common and detailed binding
regulatory "harmonisation" framework background is the same. Unfortunately
I am not planning to provide a complete translation of my website in
English. Nevertheless, I can provide the following information in English:
Mobile Interconnection
IJCLP.net Issue
7 - Winter 2002/2003
International
Journal of Communications Law and Policy
summary:
This is a detailed article on the problems of interconnection between
different networks. Interconnection means connecting networks of different
operators, so customers from one network can communicate with subscribers
of the other network and vice versa.
The article sets out the economic problem and the pricing issues available
to cope with the problem. Most of the article is based on the general
European regulatory framework and includes the revised rules of 2002; only
concrete examples towards the end of the article needed to be based on the
Austrian legal framework of the Telecommunications Act 1997. In practice,
so far most regulatory problems occur concerning the interconnection fees
between fixed and mobile telephone network subscribers. Therefore, the
topic was based on interconnection problems with mobile operators.
In future, also data network interconnection may become problematic: the
well-established "bill and keep"-approach
of the internet - where there is no mutual charge of interconnection fees
to provide a large and open, common network - is currently endangered by
tendencies of large operators which want to control the internet traffic.
This leads to the future problem of "network
neutrality" and the question whether internet access may be
guided towards the network provider's own content offerings (e.g. by
limiting speed, raising the fee or blocking access to "other"
sites). Current developments at European level indicate that there is no
clear line between protecting the interests of the general population and
the wishes of the network operators' lobbyists yet.
Are Consumer Interests Properly
Respected by the EC Liberalisation Approach?
See Francis Snyder (ed.), Protecting the
Interests of the Citizen in Today’s European Union
Bruylant 2003, ISBN 978-2-8027-1774-4
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"Recht"
Philipp Lust,
2014
www.lust.wien