WRITTEN QUESTION E-3072/03 by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Provision of the ADSL service in Greece.
Date: 2003-10-20
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Greece, Internet, Internet access provider, liberalisation of the market, monopoly, national implementing measure, payable service, prices policy

C 78 E/218

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

In his question, the Honourable Member refers to a German federal law which is at the drafting stage.
While any further position by the Commission would require an analysis of existing legislation and its
definite wording, an authorisation/notification procedure with regard to the sale of more than 25 % of
shares in domestic undertakings to foreign buyers in the sector of armament manufacturing and export
trade might be covered by these prudential considerations. The Commission will of course monitor that
the scope of the application of this new law will not give rise to concerns in the sense of Article 58(3) of
the EC Treaty (arbitrary discrimination, disguised restriction on the free movement of capital).

On the basis of the information available, the Commission does not intend to take specific measures to
initiatives such as the one described by the Honourable Member. The
cope with Member States’
Commission will, however, continue to ensure that the free movement of capital is not unduly restricted.

(2004/C 78 E/0223)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3072/03

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Provision of the ADSL service in Greece

(20 October 2003)

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.

How does the Commission assess these actions on the part of the OTE in the context of the

1.
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.

27.3.2004

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Official Journal of the European Union

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its

The Commission has been informed of the slow progress in the provision of broadband services in Greece
in the context of
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.

inquiries carried out

regular

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.

(2004/C 78 E/0224)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3073/03

by Ioannis Marínos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(20 October 2003)

Subject: Cost of bank transactions in Greece

According to information published in the Greek press, Greek banks plan to introduce a charge for all
types of bank operations (including the simplest operations such as providing information on the balance
on an account) carried out by staff at the counter. It has also been reported that each exchange transaction
will incur a charge of at least EUR 2 and a similar charge will be applied to deposits or withdrawals of cash
from a depositor’s account, whilst information concerning the balance on the account will be subject to a
charge of EUR 1,5.

It might be pointed out that, apart from professionals and the many thousands of other Greek depositors,
hundreds of thousands of Greek pensioners carry out transactions at the counter, and naturally enough
they have little knowledge of how to use automated teller machines (ATMs), the Internet and phone
banking. If the above plans are carried through, pensioners will face a particular problem given that, if
they are to avoid paying the above charge for transactions at the counter, they will be obliged to use ATMs
(which are often located in the open rather than inside the banks), with the result, among other things,
that they will become a fairly easy target for the many criminals who have been overrunning Greece in
recent years.

What charges are citizens in the remaining 14 EU countries required to pay for deposits, withdrawals and
the provision of information concerning their account? What are the average interest rates for current and
savings accounts in the 12 countries of the ‘eurozone’?