The European Commission will unveil legislation to create...

The European Commission will unveil legislation to create a single European telecom market “first thing in September,” said Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes Tuesday in a discussion with the European Parliament Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee. The package will boost the “connected continent in three ways,” she said. Truly European networks need a single authorization system for an operator to operate anywhere in Europe, under the supervision of its EU member home country, she said. That will let the EC ensure more consistent competition remedies with less red tape, cost and hassle, she said. The second change will involve more evenhanded ways to access fixed networks such as via “virtual bitstream” products, interconnection services that guarantee quality and better spectrum rules for wireless, she said. The third arm of the reform is fairer rights for citizens, including the right to net neutrality, she said. Kroes promised to “guarantee net neutrality” by making contracts more transparent and making it easier to switch ISPs. She also vowed to end anticompetitive blocking and throttling for every citizen, on every network and on every device. A fair deal also requires better prices, she said. European calls shouldn’t count as pricey international calls within a true single market, she said. Any difference in price across borders must be objectively justified by additional costs, she said. There will also be an end to mobile roaming charges, she said. But Kroes told ITRE members, who approved a resolution Tuesday saying for roaming fees for phoning, texting and downloading data should end by 2015, that banning roaming charges won’t create the single market. To the contrary, Kroes said it’s by creating the single market that such surcharges will end. The fragmented cross-border market has “real consequences,” she said. One example is spectrum, where countries are failing to follow their obligations to assign spectrum or are doing it differently so it’s harder for operators to bid, plan and offer services across borders, she said. That makes it difficult for gadget makers to optimize their devices across Europe, and for businesses to take advantage of economies of scale, she said. Operators’ uncertainties and costs are passed on to consumers, leading to higher prices and worse service, she said. Kroes said she isn’t just looking at one sector, but at the entire European telecom and information and communication technology ecosystem. The boost from a competitive single telecom market could be 110 billion euros ($141 billion) per year, she said. Kroes called her approach “pragmatic,” saying she doesn’t intend to dig up existing networks, tear up rulebooks and start from scratch. It’s about adapting what exists, unblocking bottlenecks and bringing down barriers, she said. ITRE members are discussing a longer term comprehensive review of the entire ecosystem, but such a review would take five years, she said: “Lost time means lost opportunity.” The ITRE resolution on roaming fees will be voted on at the Sept. 9-12 plenary session, the committee said.