EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/218

(2004/C 78 E/0223)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3072/03

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(20 October 2003)

Subject: Provision of the ADSL service in Greece

The Telecommunications Organisation of Greece (OTE) introduced the ADSL service in Greece in June 2003. Straight away, many complaints were made concerning the type of provision, the quality of services and the scale of charges. A characteristic feature is the fact that the service is provided in Greece at a cost which is five times higher than in the rest of the EU. The reason for this is that, through various manoeuvres, the OTE has essentially succeeded in excluding private ADSL-suppliers from the market, thereby preventing them from competing with the OTE.

More specifically the OTE, which provides this service on both a wholesale and retail basis, has decided to set charges so that the difference between the wholesale and retail rate is very small and essentially to prevent private firms from offering the ADSL service at lower prices than those charged by the OTE. Moreover, the OTE does not guarantee any level of quality in the ADSL service which it supplies to private firms on a wholesale basis (it confines itself to ‘best efforts’), with the result that those firms are completely unable to guarantee the quality of the services they provide to their customers. The OTE also supplies the ADSL service only to those users who have obtained the terminal equipment from the OTE itself.

1. How does the Commission assess these actions on the part of the OTE in the context of the liberalisation of telecommunications in the EU?

2. Will it intervene with the Greek authorities with a view to ending the monopoly which has essentially been created in the above market, and which is preventing both Greek citizens and the Greek economy from using and exploiting this new technology?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(27 November 2003)

Under the new Community regulatory framework for electronic communications, the national regulatory authority (NRA) will, taking due account of the Commission's Recommendation on relevant markets (1), need to conduct a market analysis of, inter alia, the market for wholesale unbundled access (including shared access) to metallic loops and sub-loops for the purpose of providing broadband and voice services and the market for wholesale broadband access, in order to determine whether any operator has significant market power (SMP) on those markets. If SMP is found to exist, the NRA will need to impose appropriate remedies.

Greece has not yet transposed the new Community framework. The Commission has initiated infringement proceedings against Greece for non-communication of the transposition measures.

The Commission has been informed of the slow progress in the provision of broadband services in Greece in the context of its regular inquiries carried out in the open network provision (ONP) and Communications Committees. No complaints, either formal or informal, have been submitted to the Commission by any operator regarding the provision of ADSL lines in Greece. Concerns have, however, been addressed to the Commission by members of the public, to whom the Commission has duly responded.

The old Community framework, which applied until it was superseded by the new one on 25 July 2003, is still applicable in Greece through its national transposition measures. The old framework does not provide for the simple resale of ADSL lines but rather regulates the provision by the incumbent of access and interconnection to its network. In particular, the NRA had to ensure that the incumbent is not providing access to its network to its competitors under discriminatory terms and conditions.

The Commission has informed the National Communications and Post Commission (EETT) and the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the concerns expressed by users. The EETT carried out relevant inquiries which resulted in substantial reductions to prices which currently, according to the EETT, do not seem to deviate from the Community average. However, it seems that the margin between wholesale and retail prices for the provision of ADSL lines is still limited. The EETT is currently examining the pricing and quality of service issue to ensure that OTE is not offering the service to its competitors under discriminatory terms and conditions.

The Commission is following the case closely and will either bring infringement proceedings if it considers that Community obligations are not properly implemented or use its powers under the EC Treaty competition rules should the behaviour by OTE prove to be incompatible with its obligations under Article 82 of the EC Treaty.

(1) Commission Recommendation 2003/311/EC of 11 February 2003 on relevant product and service markets within the electronic communications sector susceptible to ex ante regulation in accordance with Directive 2002/21/EC of the Parliament and of the Council on a common regulatory framework for electronic communication networks and services, OJ L 114, 8.5.2003.