11 th Report on European Electronic Communications Regulation and Markets 2005 Viviane Reding – Commissioner DG Information Society and Media 20 February 2006 Viviane Reding – Commissioner DG Information Society and Media 20 February 2006

Introduction i2010 initiative - crucial role of ICTs for growth and jobs Member States - good progress in implementing the rules Rapid technological and market change – convergence is a reality Report highlights market, regulatory and consumer developments in the sector

The market Telecoms services (fixed/mobile, internet access, data) = 44.4% of total value of ICT sector ICTs worth € 614 billion in 2005 Telecoms accounted for € 273 billion

Market developments - broadband Broadband growth Rapid growth in take-up to 53 million lines in October million more lines in ,000 lines per day (38,000 in 2004) 5 best-performing EU MS outstrip the US and Japan (Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Belgium)

Broadband take-up

Broadband – latest figures 58.6 million lines in January

Market developments - mobile Mobile take-up has also increased, to almost 93% in October 2005 Some of the new Member States (Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania) are doing particularly well 3G take-up is also going up, with over 15m EU subscribers

Market developments - mobile Eight Member States now exceed 100% mobile take-up

Market developments - fixed Fixed voice sector is worth € 85.8 billion This remains the major source of income for fixed operators Competition has intensified - prices for local, national and international calls continued to fall

Implementation of the regulatory framework Primary legislation in 25 Member States (Greece transposed in January 2006) Commission brought more than 50 infringement proceedings against 23 Member States

Implementation of the regulatory framework Commission remains vigilant Still some bottlenecks – local loop unbundling, interconnection, cost accounting Commission will continue to open infringement proceedings where necessary

Implementation of the regulatory framework Proceedings are still ongoing against a few Member States Most important issue = market reviews by regulators Three Member States have not yet complied This is a key element of the framework

Regulatory intervention (1) Broadband take-up driven by good regulation Regulatory pricing of shared unbundled access in France, the UK and Denmark increased broadband growth Mobile number portability doubled to 25.1 million - Spain, Italy and the UK have 63% of total ported numbers in the EU

Regulatory intervention (2) Interconnection prices in the wholesale fixed voice market have continued to go down Significant reductions in countries such as the UK - regulatory action brought them down to lowest in Europe

The consumer International roaming prices far too high – Commission to propose Regulation Consumers can dial the same emergency number (112) across Europe Directory services (fixed and mobile) now available in most Member States More could be done to ensure access to services by disabled users

Main conclusions Increasingly competitive markets are bringing consumer benefits Lower prices - since 2000, average price for a 3 minute call fell by 65% Greater choice of innovative services Almost 93% of Europeans have a mobile phone 47% are connected to the internet 11.5% have high speed broadband access

The 2006 Review Commission Communication for end of June Draft Revised Recommendation on relevant markets Amendments to the Framework will be proposed by the end of the year We remain in listening mode on possible changes to the Framework