The Department of Trade and Industry has launched a consultation
on proposed draft legislation to ensure that Oftel, the UK telecoms
regulator, will have the necessary powers to prepare for the
implementation of the new EU Electronic Communications
Directives.
The four Directives and one Decision, which were adopted in
March, will provide for the regulation of electronic communications
networks and services, including radio spectrum, throughout the EC.
In order to ensure smooth implementation by the July 2003 deadline,
Member States are required to carry out preparatory work
involving:
- market reviews to establish which markets are effectively
competitive and which are not, so that it can be determined on
which operators with significant market power the Directives’
relevant obligations are to be imposed; and
- determination of which operators should be designated as
universal service providers.
In order for Oftel to carry out these assessments, its powers,
which currently only apply to telecoms, require to be extended to
all electronic communications networks and services.
The consultation document was published yesterday and proposes a
statutory instrument made under the European Communications
Act.
The closing date for comments on the document and the draft
regulations is October 1st 2002.
The
consultation document
