ECTA Conference To Consider Functional Separation
The annual conference of the European CompetitiveTelecommunications Association will run from the 15th - 17th November. The hottopic for the conference is set to be the proposals to separate access andservice in an effort to improve competition in the market.
To be held in Brussels, the ECTAAnnual Regulatory Conference 2006 promises an opportunity for Europe’snew telco operators to consider the European Commission’s recent proposals forthe 2006 Telecoms Framework Review.
These have raised some interesting questions includingwhether access should be separated from services to boost competition, whetherwe are ready to relax retail regulation, and whether the Commission should havemore powers over the decisions of national regulators.
There will be specifc content covering the VoIP industry asregulators and the industry as a whole debates how to handle the move to nextgen networks and VoIP in a way that is pro-competitive and fosters investment, accordingto the organisers.
Founded in 1998, the ECTA looks after the regulatory andcommercial interests of new entrant telecoms operators, ISPs and suppliers. Intotal there are about 150 member companies encompassing operators, serviceproviders and suppliers as well as National Associations.
This annual gathering attracts the leading telecom altnets fromacross Europe and the highly topical currentissues based on the 2006 Telecoms Framework Review are sure to make it aninteresting event.
The big questions surrounding the potential for functionalseparation and the possible relaxation of retail regulations may pale into insignificancein the face of discussions over whether the European Commission should havegreater powers over national regulators’ decisions.
All these questions and much more will be addressed at ECTA’sannual regulatory conference as well as up-to-the-minute perspectives onpolitical priorities for telecoms, the latest competition law developments anddecisions by key regulators and the Commission, says the organisers.