WRITTEN QUESTION P-1544/01

by Raina Echerer (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(14 May 2001)

Subject: EU regulation on unbundled access to the local loop - situation in Austria

Regulation (EC) 2887/2000(1) of 18 December 2000 on unbundled access to the local loop took effect on 2 January 2001, is binding in all its parts and took effect in every EU Member State. The aim of this regulation is to create fair competition in Internet services in local access networks. The designated operator in each country, Telekom Austria in the case of Austria, is required to provide an offer in keeping with this aim.

According to information from Austria, Telekom Austria is not complying with the regulation. Access is still insufficiently unbundled, so that network components or facilities unnecessary for the provision of the service still have to be paid for. Administrative and technical access to the local loop is too time-consuming and complicated. There are not enough collocation possibilities for all those who need them. Tariffs have not yet been adjusted to actual costs. The calculation is insufficiently transparent. Interested parties with little economic clout still have problems in accessing the local loop.

What is the Commission's source of information on Austria? Can the Commission be sure of receiving an objective assessment of the situation in Austria?

What does the Commission propose to do in order to achieve full implementation of the regulation in Austria?

(1) OJ L 336, 30.12.2000, p. 4.

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(21 June 2001)

According to Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2887/2000 of the Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on unbundled access to the local loop(1), notified operators shall publish from 31 December 2000, and keep updated, a reference offer for unbundled access to their local loops and related facilities (RUO), which shall at least include the items listed in the Annex.

The offer shall be sufficiently unbundled so that the beneficiary does not have to pay for network elements or facilities which are not necessary for the supply of its services, and shall contain a description of the components of the offer, associated terms and conditions, including charges.

Telekom Austria (TA), notified as having significant market power in the Austrian interconnection market, has submitted to the national regulatory authority (NRA) a RUO of 22 November 2000, which is also available on the NRA's website(2). For the time being, TA's RUO, however, does not include shared access to the local loop. Consequently, there is a need for the incumbent to adjust its RUO to correspond to the requirements of the Regulation. The regulatory authority has urged TA to modify its RUO accordingly before 31 May 2001.

In the meantime, access to the local loop's broadband spectrum for service providers appears to be possible in the following ways: according to a decision of the Telecom Control Commission of 12 March 2001, service providers are entitled to have fully unbundled access to the local loop. The decision also provides for the necessary collocation. Pricing for collocation is based on actual costs. Furthermore, TA and the association of Austrian internet service providers (ISPA) have agreed on a standard wholesale offer by TA to ISPs. TA has also put a standard wholesale offer on its website concerning bitstream access to ADSL services on its local loop. According to the information available to the Commission, no ISP has so far requested shared access from TA or launched a dispute settlement procedure before the national regulatory authority.

The information on the Austrian situation is based on information publicly available on the national regulator's website, data received directly from the Austrian regulator and information regularly provided by the Austrian delegation in the ONP Committee.

The Commission is following very closely the implementation of the current legal framework in general, and is aware of the complexity of pricing and collocation issues in many Member States. It will continue to monitor the provisions relating to local loop unbundling in the Member States, in close co-operation with the operators and service providers concerned, with a view to encouraging its full application throughout the Community. The responsible Member of the Commission gave an up-date on the implementation of the Regulation on local loop unbundling to the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy on 12 June 2001.

The Commission draws attention to the fact that a complaint has been filed with regard to the lack of implementation of shared access in Austria which will be dealt with according to the Commission's internal rules of procedures.

(1) OJ L 336, 30.12.2000.

(2) http://www.rtr.at/.