IV - European Union decisions on opening the market for services and infrastructures

The November 1994 decision of the European Council of Telecommunications Ministers was a decisive step in the development of regulations in the telecommunications sector: Member States decided to completely open telecommunications services and infrastructure to competition by 1 January 1998 at the latest.

1994 also saw the publication by the Commission of two Green Papers, one on mobile and personal communications, and the other on the liberalisation of telecommunications infrastructure and cable television networks.

The discussions resulting from these two documents made it possible to take a decisive step in the development of regulations in the telecommunications sector, a process which had been initiated in Europe in 1987 with the publication of the European Commission's Green Paper on the development of a common market for telecommunications services and equipment.

4.1. Mobile communications: liberalisation to accelerate growth

The publication in spring 1994 of the Green Paper on mobile communications gave rise to a sweeping process of consultation with all players in the European Union. This consultation made it possible to reach a consensus on several basic principles: the abolition of exclusive and special rights in the mobile communications sector; the setting up of procedures for granting licences which are open, transparent and non-discriminatory; and the creation of favourable conditions for developing personal communications, based on completely integrating technologies and fixed and mobile services.

France, which already has a mobile communications market that is highly competitive, heartily supported these principles.

4.2. An eagerly awaited Council decision: the joint liberalisation of infrastructure and services in 1998

The publication of the Bangemann Report on the information society stimulated awareness of the urgent need to develop a stable and open regulatory framework in Europe that would be favourable to private investment in infrastructure, services and the related applications. On 28 September 1994, based on a contribution by the Commission in the form of a Green Paper on infrastructure, the Council of Ministers recognised the need to take the step of opening up the market for infrastructure to competition.

Following the publication on 25 October 1994 by the European Commission of Part One of the Green Paper on the liberalisation of telecommunications infrastructure and cable television networks, the Council of Telecommunications Ministers of the European Union unanimously adopted a Resolution to open the field of infrastructures to competition by 1 January 1998. At this meeting of the Council, France also issued a separate statement in favour of opening up to competition alternative infrastructures for services that had already been liberalised. This statement was also supported by the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Finland, and the Netherlands.

This development towards a fully competitive business environment by 1998 thus marks the final step in a process of gradually opening up the market to competition, a process whose stable foundations were laid during the wide-scale debate held in 1992 and the beginning of 1993, centring on a revaluation of the situation in the telecommunications sector.

Following this debate, on 16 June 1993 the Council of Ministers decided to take the final step in opening the field of services to competition by abolishing special and exclusive rights to public voice telephone service before 1 January 1998.

The joint liberalisation of infrastructure and voice telephony will by its very nature help give rise to the growth of efficient, innovative competition which will generate new investment, in conformance with the consensus of the public consultation held in France at the end of 1993.

4.3. The necessity to erect a stable and well-balanced regulatory framework: the views of the French presidency of the European Union on drawing up guidelines for the future European regulatory framework

The announcement of the decision to open the market to competition and the date by which this must occur should allow the different players to prepare themselves for this deadline under the best conditions.

Having cleared the main hurdle, most Member States want to carry out a controlled liberalisation, which requires that a suitable regulatory framework be set out before 1 January 1998 which includes protection provisions in areas of special importance to France.

France assumed the presidency of the European Union at a moment that is crucial for actively contributing to preparations for the 1 January 1998 deadline. In fact, the main task lies ahead: to define the conditions under which the Member States must prepare for this deadline, based on proposals that the Commission will formulate using the results of the public consultation organised around the Green Paper on infrastructure.

The French presidency, which is anxious to proceed along the path of consensus as has been done since the first Green Paper in 1987, has set itself the goal of getting the Council to adopt a Resolution on the basic points of the future regulatory framework and has called on the Commission to develop legislative proposals along these lines as quickly as possible, that is, certainly before 31 December 1995. The main elements of the accompanying measures for the liberalisation should include the following points:

(i) Conditions for granting licences and their contents:

The licensing system must encourage the entry of new players onto the market — without any a priori limits on their number, except when the availability of scarce resources (frequencies) justifies it — and provide them with a framework favourable to the growth of their business. The definition of the conditions and procedures for granting licences is an indispensable precondition for the growth of new services. In addition to the procedures and criteria for granting licences, this means defining the rights and obligations of licencees in the contents of the licence itself.

(ii) General rules applicable to interconnection agreements and the relevancy of ONP principles:

The expected and foreseeable growth of new networks requires setting up precise, transparent rules governing the interconnection of these networks. It is crucial that service providers have access to the largest customer base possible. Thus, this means defining and setting up a system of rules concerning rights and obligations which will constitute the framework within which interconnection agreements between operators can multiply.

(iii) The way in which the universal service obligation will be carried out and financed:

This means ensuring that universal service will be provided at a reasonable cost to every citizen in the European Union, regardless of where the citizen lives. The way in which this universal service will be financed needs to be specified in order to ensure that the cost of this universal service is shared fairly between operators.

(iv) Measures intended to ensure comparable and effective access to non-EU markets for the provision of telecommunications services in infrastructure:

As the conclusions of the Bangemann Report indicated, the entire world must now be aware of the stakes involved in the development of telecommunications. Due to this factor, the regulatory framework being developed at the European level needs to guarantee that players in the Union benefit from effective and comparable access to the market of non-EU countries. This will encourage the long-term development of fair competition not only between the Member States themselves, but also more broadly with all non-European Union partners.

The regulatory provisions pertaining to these different matters (universal service, interconnection and licences) will be formalized and examined based on the contents of Part Two of the Green Paper on infrastructure, which specifically deals with the way liberalisation will be carried out. The French presidency of the Council during the first half of 1995 provides our country with a precious opportunity to engage in discussions with the European Commission and with our partners.

Chapter II