WRITTEN QUESTION E-0564/99

by Roberta Angelilli (NI) to the Commission

(12 March 1999)

Subject: Telecom's monopoly over district telephone calls

There appears to be absolutely no justification for the high cost of telephone calls in Italy within a given district if the destination is more than 30 km away. Making a telephone call from the "hinterland" to a town or city can cost up to 8 times as much as a normal urban telephone call, whereas this would cost twice as much at the very most in Germany, slightly over twice as much in Spain and just under four times as much in France.

A call to Rome from Velletri (which is in the Rome province and the same telephone district) costs LIT 535 per minute, in other words, the same as a call to New York.

Given that Telecom still has a monopoly over calls within a given district, can the Commission state:

1. whether there is any Community legislation governing such matters;

2. whether Telecom's continuing monopoly over calls of this type, despite the fact that calls between districts have been liberalized, is unlawful;

3. how it views this matter overall?

Answer given by Mr Van Miert on behalf of the Commission

(19 April 1999)

The abolition of exclusive and special rights on 1 January 1998 did not, in most MemberStates, alter the de facto monopoly which incumbent operators enjoyed over the provision of local services. The establishment of local loop infrastructures by new entrants calls for considerable investment and will take many years. In MemberStates where cable networks exist, these may be used to provide local voice telephony services in competition with the existing operator. In countries such as Italy, such competition is possible only if the existing operator is obliged to give its competitors access to its local loop, thus enabling them to offer local calls on that network. Italian law provides that such access must be given, but the conditions have yet to be laid down.

The Community directives on the subject require Member States to allow incumbent operators to rebalance their charges and to ensure that the charges of major operators are based on underlying costs. For several years now the Commission has pointed out to the Italian authorities that TelecomItalia should be allowed to rebalance its charges. It was only recently, on 22 December 1998, that the new regulatory authority for communications allowed Telecom to adjust some of its charges. The authority's decision also provided for the introduction of charges for local calls in 1999.

It is not only in Italy that the consumer cannot choose another operator for local calls. Up to now, the Commission has never challenged this restriction of choice, since where the caller and the person receiving the call are both served by the incumbent operator, such a service would not be economically justified. However, if the caller or the person receiving the call is connected to the network of a new entrant, the incumbent operator cannot justify refusing to offer a choice of operator for local calls.

The Commission will continue to monitor closely the progress of competition in the supply of local communications and, where necessary, will propose specific measures when revising the present regulatory framework.