Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Progress Report on the single European electronic communications market 2008 (14TH Report) {SEC(2009) 376}
Date: 2009-03-24
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: consumer protection, electronic mail, regulation of telecommunications, report, right of establishment, single market, telecommunications, transmission network

EN 

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 24.3.2009 
COM(2009) 140 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

PROGRESS REPORT ON THE SINGLE EUROPEAN ELECTRONIC 
COMMUNICATIONS MARKET 2008 (14TH REPORT) 

{SEC(2009) 376}

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1. INTRODUCTION 

The electronic communications sector in the EU is continuing to bring significant benefits to 
users and consumers. EU countries are world leaders in broadband take-up, mobile Internet is 
growing  rapidly,  prices  for  most  services  are  continuing  to  fall  and  consumers  are 
increasingly availing themselves of bundled services. While the sector is not immune to the 
current  economic  crisis1,  a  certain  resilience  is  provided  by  the  relatively  strong  cash  flows 
due to the essential nature of basic telecoms services, increasingly offered at flat rates, as well 
as  by  the  relatively  low  debt  levels.  Revenues  are  continuing  to  grow  and  in  real  terms  the 
sector  is  growing  faster  than  the  economy.  However,  the  increasingly  challenging 
environment  makes  it  necessary  to  adopt  a  regulatory  approach  that  will  enhance 
predictability and certainty and create a level playing field in the EU's single market.  

Despite consumer gains, the full potential of a competitive telecoms market is still impeded 
by  ineffective  and  inconsistent  implementation  of  regulation.  For  example,  approaches  to 
Next  Generation  Access  (NGA)  are  fragmented  and  regulatory  methods  for  setting  mobile 
termination  rates  remain  diverse.  A  more  cohesive  approach  to  such  emerging  and  existing 
regulatory challenges is needed to improve certainty and give consumers and businesses alike 
greater opportunities to benefit from a strengthened and more competitive single market.  

As part of the drive to ensure effective and consistent regulation, the Commission is finalising 
a  Recommendation  on  the  regulatory  treatment  of  fixed  and  mobile  termination  rates  and 
preparing a Recommendation on regulated access to NGA networks. 
More generally, the Commission's proposals2 to reform the EU's regulatory framework aim to 
empower  consumers,  boost  genuine  competition  and  remove  structural  obstacles  which 
continue  to  impede  the  development  of  the  internal  market.  These  proposals  are  currently 
under discussion in the European Parliament and the Council.  

This  Communication  reports  on  developments  in  the  electronic  communications  sector  in 
20083.  

2. MARKET DEVELOPMENTS 
In 2008, the EU's telecoms sector continued to grow, at 1.3%4 in real terms, which compares 
to a 1% real increase in GDP for the economy overall. The sector is withstanding the current 
sharp deterioration in the economic climate relatively better than other sectors thanks to the 
stability  of  cash  flow  for  most  operators  but,  like  the  rest  of  the  economy,  is  now  facing 
difficulties in accessing credit which will inevitably affect its capacity to invest. 

The prices of most standard communications services have continued to fall and the electronic 
communications  sector  has  continued  to  have  a  dampening  effect  on  inflation.  Overall,  the 
average  European  consumer  of  electronic  communications  services  was  better  off  in  2008 
than the year before.  

1 
2 
3 

4 

The current crisis is different from the downturn in 2002, which affected the telecom sector specifically. 
COM(2007) 697-699. 
Unless  otherwise  indicated  the  situation  is  that  at  31  December  2008  and  the  market  data  are  those 
applying at 1 October 2008. 
EITO November 2008. 

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2 

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Inflation and retail price telephony evolution
(2003-2008e)

115,00

110,00

105,00

100,00

95,00

90,00

85,00

80,00

75,00

70,00

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Inflation (EU  - 27 average)

Retail fixed prices (3 minute national  call EU average)

Retail mobile prices (medium user)

Consumers also benefited from wider availability of new services such as mobile broadband 
and  fixed  broadband  via  fibre,  increasing  the  potential  for  network-based  competition.  A 
particularly  important  feature  in  2008  was  the  increase  in  both  fixed  and  mobile  number 
portability, which facilitates switching and is a key instrument for boosting competition. .  

The EU also contributed to these trends by intervening where competition was insufficient to 
deliver  lower  prices.  A  good  example  is  the  EU  Roaming  Regulation5,  which  has  led  to  a 
decrease  in  roaming  prices  of  around  60%.  In  2009,  the  scope  of  the  Roaming  Regulation, 
which is currently being debated in the European Parliament and the Council, is expected to 
be extended to include excessive prices for SMS and data roaming services. 

Investments and Revenues 

In  2008,  the  revenues  of  the  telecoms  sector  accounted  for  over  52%  of  those  of  the  whole 
ICT sector. Data for 2007 collected by the National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) indicate 
that the revenues of the EU telecom sector reached almost €357 billion, or 2.9% of GDP.  

5 

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/roaming/regulation/index_en.htm 

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Telecom Revenue and Investment over GDP, 2007
EU Telecom Revenue Average: 2.90% GDP

7%

6%

5%

4%

3%

2%

1%

0%

LU SE NL

AT

IE

FI

FR

DK

DE

LT UK

IT

EU BE

SI

CY

SK

RO LV

EL

CZ

ES

PL

PT MT

EE HU BG

Total Telecom Sector Revenue

Total Telecom Sector Investment

Data for investment in the Netherlands and UK come from OECD estimates. 

Revenues from telecom services 2004-2008e

€

n
o

i
l
l
i

b

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

2004

2005

Europe

2006

2007

2008e

North America

Asia-Pacific

The graph does not take into account  EU-27 but estimations for the European  region. 
Europe  includes  Belgium,  Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Spain,  France, Greece, Italy, The 
Netherlands, Austria, Poland,  Portugal, Russia,  Sweden, Finland  and United Kingdom.

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In  2007  investment  increased  by  around  1.5%,  thus  marking  the  sixth  consecutive  year  of 
growth.  This  trend  is  likely  to  continue  in  2008  although  with  a  flattening  trend  as  a 
consequence of the financial crisis6. 

The market capitalisation of the telecom sector has declined since the beginning of 2008, but 
less  markedly  than  that  of  other  sectors.  The  Dow  Jones  SXKP7  index,  which  captures  the 
performance of the whole sector, has declined by 20%, which compares to 25% for the wider 
economy8. 

Mobile 

The mobile market remains the most dynamic part of the electronic communications sector, 
due to increasing call volumes and the take-off of mobile broadband.  

In general, prices for mobile services fell during the year, mainly as a result of a decrease in 
the  prices  for  mobile  voice  services  and  domestic  SMS.  The  resulting  lower  revenues  for 
operators have, though, been partially offset by increased volumes. However, as the following 
chart  shows,  prices  throughout  the  EU  still  vary  widely.  Some  of  the  variations  may  well 
reflect differences in local costs and purchasing power, some may be due to differing business 
models, and some may be due to competitive conditions, but the variations overall are so great 
that  the  differences  are  unlikely  to  be  due  to  such  factors  alone.  Regulatory  differences 
between Member States appear to contribute substantially to these variations.  

Mobile price per minute of voice communication
European average 0.14 €, 2007 

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CZ: Value added tax included - DK, EL and LU: data revenues and subscription revenues are included 

6 
7 
8 

EITO November 2008. 
Dow Jones SXKP Telecoms Index (as of 22 August 2008): see Annex for constituents  
As measured by the Dow Jones 50 Stoxx Index.  

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Simple average across all mobile operators covered
Medium usage basket, 2002 version

36,80

33,42

29,82

25,50

24,11

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EU25/EU27

For the purposes of the above graphs, baskets using 2002 OECD methodology have been used.9  

Since  2004,  mobile  telephony  prices,  as  measured  by  the  so-called  "OECD  baskets 
methodology", have decreased by 34.5% for all consumer profiles.  

Mobile Internet services now account for around 3% of industry turnover, and are continuing 
to  show  strong  signs  of  growth.  The  growing  demand  for  mobile  broadband  services 
demonstrates the need for a more coordinated approach to management of spectrum resources 
at Community level, which is a key aim of the Commission's review proposals.  

SMS account for an estimated 11% of mobile operators' total revenues. While prices per SMS 
have remained stable, operators are using ‘buckets’ of SMS which can be very cheap on a per 
SMS basis at national level and can generate considerable volumes. It became apparent last 
year  that  some  operators  had  begun  offering  data  services  through  flat-rate  data  tariffs. 
Revenues from mobile Internet services are higher in Europe than in the United States.  

However, these national-level trends are not reflected in prices for SMS roaming and, to some 
extent, prices for data roaming services, which remain unjustifiably high across the EU. It is 
for these reasons that the Commission has adopted proposals to extend the current Roaming 
Regulation to include such services.  

The average EU mobile penetration rate, already at a very high level last year, continued to 
grow from 112% to 119%10.  The  use of "3G" services is also  increasing and it  is estimated 
that  at  the  end  of  2008  there  were  around  91.3  million  users  in  the  EU  (15.5%  of  the  total 
mobile operators' subscribers). The average market share of the leading operators decreased 
by around 3%, having been stable over the previous two years.  

9 
10 

Further details can be found in the Annexes.  
According to OECD data, mobile penetration was 87% for the USA and 84% for Japan in 2007. 

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Mobile subscribers  penetration in EU 
(based on mobile active subscribers)

103,2%

111,8%

119,0%

8
3

,

8
7
4

6
4

,

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5
5

2
2

,

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9
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Oct. 2004

Oct. 2005

Oct. 2006

Oct. 2007 

Oct. 2008

Source: Commission services based on NRA data and EMC estimates
Mobile termination rates  

EU subscribers

EU penetration  rate

The intervention of NRAs has continued to reduce mobile termination rates (MTRs) although 
they  remain  rather  high.  In  October  2008,  the  average  value  of  these  rates  was  8.55  euro 
cents, a reduction of 11.6% compared to the 9.67 cents of October 2007. There is still huge 
variation in individual rates, from 2.10 cents in Cyprus to 15.92 cents in Bulgaria.  

Fixed voice 

In  2008,  the  traditional  fixed  market  for  voice  calls  continued  to  decline  at  a  rate  of  5%  of 
revenues,  which  is  similar  to  2007.  The  substitution  of  services  over  traditional  switched 
networks by mobile and broadband services (e.g. Voice over broadband calls) largely explains 
this trend.  

Fixed incumbents' market shares are, on average, stabilising, although in some countries the 
incumbent's share has increased. There has been a considerable increase in direct access from 
alternative  operators:  five  percentage  points  between  July  2007  and  July  2008  to  18.6%  of 
subscribers. 

Prices  are  generally  stabilising,  although  they  have  increased  in  certain  local  calls  markets. 
Regarding the fixed interconnection market, wholesale prices are also stabilising. 

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Subscribers using the incumbent for direct access, July 2008
EU average: 81.4%

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PT

RO NL

EE

PL

ES UK DK

DE MT

IT

AT

FR

BE

SE

SI

HU EL

LU CY

SK

CZ

BG

LT

FI

IE

Direct access 

EU average July 2008

VoIP and convergence 

VoIP continues to replace traditional fixed voice telephony. The managed VoIP market share 
has almost doubled to 8.33% of the EU market.  

12.25% of the European population now subscribe to bundled offers, which is an increase of 
33.3% on last year.11  

Pricing 

Prices  for  both  3-minute  and  10-minute  national  calls  declined  by  11.7%  during  the  year, 
which is the biggest drop since 2004.  

11 

Bundled offer means a commercial offer of two or more services marketed as a single offer and offered 
for a single price. 

EN 

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National call charge

EU27 weighted average

132.8

117.2

107.4

105.0

91.3

76.4

75.4

75.2

41.6

37.0

34.1

33.4

29.6

25.6

25.7

25.7

66.4

22.7

212.6

165.6

65.7

52.2

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250

200

150

100

50

0

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

National call charge, 3 min

National call charge, 10 min

Broadband  

Fixed  broadband  penetration  continued  to  grow  in  2008  with  14  million  new  lines  added, 
bringing EU average fixed broadband penetration to 22.9%.  

EU Broadband penetration rate - BB lines per 100 population (January 2009)

%
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HU

PT

CZ

LV

LT

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EU27 MT

EE

DE

BE

FR

UK

LU

FI

SE

NL

DK

Data for NL as of October 2008

The  top  EU  countries  remained  world  leaders  in  broadband  penetration.  Nine  EU  countries 
are currently ahead of the USA and the EU is catching up with Japan and Australia. 

EN 

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€
 
 
 
 
 
International broadband penetration rates - top 25 perform ers 
(1 July 2008)

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So urce: COCOM , July 2008 (EU co untries); OECD, end o f June 2008 (third co untries)

The  gap  between  the  best  and  the  worst-performing  countries  in  Europe  is  narrowing  even 
though  the  difference  remains  significant:  26.3  percentage  points  between  the  worst-
performing country (Slovakia) and the best (Denmark).  

DSL  remains  the  main  broadband  technology  in  the  EU,  but  alternative  technologies  are 
gaining  ground  (fibre  and  wireless).  High  growth  of  unbundled  local  loop-based  products 
continues and now represents 69.3% of all DSL lines used by alternative operators. Wholesale 
access  prices  are  decreasing.  The  Commission  will  consider  the  implications  of  these 
developments in its Recommendation on NGA.  

EN 

10 

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Prices of broadband subscriptions continue to fall. 

Price comparison for median offers EU27, 
total cost/month in €/PPP (VAT incl.)

0
6
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65.00

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25.00

Basket "144-
512 kbps"

Basket "512-
1024 kbps"

Basket "1-2
Mbps"

Basket "2-4
Mbps"

Basket "4-8
Mbps"

Basket "8-20
Mbps"

Apr-07

Apr-08

Three quarters of broadband lines in the EU have download speeds of 2 mega bits per second 
(Mbps) and above, a speed that supports TV over the Internet, for example.  

Fixed broadband lines by speeds - January 2009

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

BE BG CZ DK DE EE EL ES FR IE

IT CY LV

LT

LU HU MT NL AT PL PT RO SI

SK

FI

SE UK EU

Above 144 Kbps and below 2 Mbps

2 Mbps and above (and below 10 Mbps)

10 Mbps and above

CZ, FR, HU, NL, AT and RO did not provide the data

Mobile broadband is starting to take off (13% penetration on average). The number of mobile 
is,  however, 
broadband  connections  using  only  dedicated  data  cards/modems/keys 
significantly lower (2.8% penetration). Mobile broadband subscriptions are becoming a viable 
alternative  to  fixed  broadband  in  a  number  of  countries,  even  though  mobile  technologies 
generally allow transmission speeds below those of wired technologies.  

EN 

11 

   EN 

 
 
 
Mobile BB penetration rate - dedicated data service cards/modems/keys 
January 2009

12.0%

10.0%

8.0%

6.0%

4.0%

2.0%

0.0%

%
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LV

CY

BG

LU

BE

MT

RO

FR

EL

SI

DE

ES

CZ

PL

EU

IT

LT

SK

DK

IE

SE

PT

FI

AT

EE, HU, NL and the UK did not provide data. 

Member States' policies seeking to bridge the digital divide are starting to pay off, but more 
needs to be done to further narrow the gap. At the end of 2007 DSL networks were available 
to 93% of the European population, although 30% of the rural population do not yet benefit 
from access.12  

3. REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT 

Institutional framework 

Independence of NRAs 

Independent NRAs are a prerequisite for ensuring fair and effective regulation of the sector. 
Independence may be compromised in particular where Member States still have control over 
operators. The Commission had to launch infringement proceedings against Lithuania, Latvia 
to  ensure  effective  separation  between  regulatory  functions  and 
and  Luxembourg 
ownership/control functions. The case concerning Luxembourg was closed in early 2009. The 
conditions  for  the  appointment  or  removal  of  the  head  of  the  NRA  led  the  Commission  to 
refer  Poland  to  the  Court  of  Justice  and  to  launch  an  infringement  proceeding  against 
Romania. The Commission services are also examining the conditions under which the head 
of the Slovakian NRA was dismissed. Effective separation between regulatory and ownership 
functions  led  the  Commission  to  close  the  corresponding  infringement  proceeding  against 
Bulgaria. 

NRA powers and resources 

While resources remain an issue of concern in some Member States, generally speaking most 
NRAs seem to be equipped with the appropriate legal powers to carry out the tasks provided 
for in the regulatory framework. The Commission opened an infringement proceeding against 
Sweden for the lack of appropriate authority to deal with interconnection disputes. 

12 

COM(2008) 572 on the scope of Universal Service - the Commission opened a debate on the future of 
universal service with particular reference to broadband services.  

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Appeals 

Systematic  appeals  and  lengthy  procedures  continue  to  undermine  legal  certainty  and 
effective  implementation  of  the  framework  in  a  number  of  Member  States  (e.g.  Belgium, 
Hungary,  Portugal,  Romania  and  Sweden).  In  contrast,  efforts  to  address  these  issues  have 
been  made  in  Greece  and  Poland.  In  the  meantime,  the  Court  of  Justice  has  provided 
clarification on the types of undertaking or users eligible to appeal decisions of NRAs, which 
is expected to broaden the number of eligible parties in certain Member States (e.g. Sweden) 
and will increase legal protection by improving the standing of competitors.  

Regulatory measures 

Market analysis 

Significant progress was made with the second round of market analyses and in some cases 
the  third  round  has  already  started  (e.g.  Finland,  Austria  and  Hungary).  Following  some 
recent notifications all Member States have now completed the first round of market analyses 
with the exception of Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.  

Remedies 

Many Member States are failing to implement and enforce remedies properly or in a timely 
manner. In addition to the United Kingdom, some other Member States have considered the 
possibility,  and  even  commenced  the  initial  stages,  of  some  form  of  separation  of  the  SMP 
operator.  In  Sweden,  a  law  has  been  adopted  to  enable  the  NRA  to  impose  functional 
separation on the incumbent upon approval by the Commission.  

On  the  basis  of  its  experience  in  implementing  the  regulatory  framework,  the  Commission 
will continue to support and work with NRAs in order to enhance predictability and improve 
certainty in the market.  

Inconsistency in the approach to remedies continues to be a problem as indicated below:  

Broadband 

Whilst several access products such as bitstream or naked DSL were finally made available in 
some countries (e.g. Germany, Slovenia, Spain), in others (e.g. Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary, 
Cyprus,  Sweden,  Latvia)  problems  such  as  the  lack  of,  or  delay  in,  implementation  of  the 
remedies  imposed,  inappropriate  technical  or  economic  conditions  for  the  available  access 
products,  or  inconsistency  between  the  conditions  for  different  access  products  led  to  low 
take-up of these products and made it difficult for alternative operators to compete.  

The  approaches  to  setting  price  control  obligations  for  wholesale  broadband  access  vary 
significantly across Member States. Some NRAs rely on "retail minus" methodologies while 
others  apply  cost-orientation.  Some  NRAs  have  not  been  able  to  implement  the  cost-
orientation obligations which they have imposed and rely in the meantime on other methods 
such as benchmarking (e.g. Portugal, Poland). 

NRAs are also facing a major challenge regarding the regulatory treatment of bundled offers 
to guarantee that operators remain in a position to compete.  

The  issue  of  NGAs  remains  a  regulatory  challenge  and  while  many  NRAs  have  started  to 
reflect on the regulatory treatment of NGAs and to adopt appropriate measures, some others 
are only at a very early stage of their discussions, which is creating uncertainty for operators 
as well as a lack of consistency across Member States.  

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Some  NRAs  withdrew  obligations  imposed  in  the  wholesale  broadband  access  market  by 
defining different geographic markets (UK and Portugal).  

Mobile 

With regard to methodologies for calculating MTRs, there are still diverging approaches. In 
some  Member  States  price  regulation  is  not  imposed  at  all,  leaving  MTRs  to  be  negotiated 
commercially  (e.g.  Slovakia).  Differences  also  persist  across  the  EU  as  to  the  setting  of 
symmetric  or  asymmetric  MTRs.  As  a  result  of  these  inconsistent  practices,  as  already 
observed, MTRs vary greatly from one country to another.  

Fixed 

As  regards  the  markets  for  call  termination,  various  cost  accounting  methodologies  were 
applied by Member States, such as the LRIC model or historical costs. 

Regulation  was  withdrawn  from  retail  calls  markets  by  many  NRAs  (e.g.  Germany,  Spain, 
France, Czech Republic, Ireland, the Netherlands). 

During the Community consultation process the Commission noted a practice whereby, while 
the market definition was changed to meet the Commission's concerns, the remedies imposed 
in that market, where the Commission's powers are more limited, produced the same outcome 
as if the market definition had not been changed. The Commission's proposals to reform the 
EU's  regulatory  framework  would  avoid  such  a  situation  by  allowing  it  to  act  also  when 
remedies proposed by a national regulator threaten to hamper the efficient functioning of the 
single market. 

Spectrum management  

–  In  general,  Commission  radio  spectrum  harmonisation  decisions  adopted  up  until  2007 
have  been  implemented  in  most  Member  States,  except  for  the  decision  on  harmonised 
availability  of  information  regarding  spectrum  use  within  the  Community.  In  the 
meantime,  some  Member  States  have  taken  steps  to  introduce  market-based  approaches 
into  their  spectrum  management  practices  (e.g.  Denmark,  Greece,  the  Netherlands  and 
Portugal). 

–  In November 2008, the Commission proposed to update and simplify the GSM Directive to 
allow  the  introduction  of  new  mobile  services,  starting  with  UMTS  services,  in  the  900 
MHz band. Several Member States took concrete regulatory action to allow the use of 900 
MHz and 1800 MHz frequency bands for services relying on technologies other than GSM. 
At EU level, the European Parliament and the Council adopted a Decision13 on the selection 
and  authorisation  of  systems  providing  mobile  satellite  services  (MSS),  aimed  at  creating  a 
single market for pan-European mobile satellite services.  

Greater efforts appear to be required in order to ensure effective implementation of the 
Commission's spectrum harmonisation decisions.  

Digital dividend 

While  certain  Member  States  (e.g.  Finland,  France,  UK)  have  seized  the  opportunity 
presented  by  the  digital  dividend  to  allow  the  deployment  of  innovative  services,  several 
others are intending to keep all or most of the digital dividend for broadcasting applications. 

13 

No 626/2008/EC. 

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14 

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Some  Member  States  have  not  yet  taken  a  decision  on  this  issue.  The  Commission  will,  in 
2009, prepare the required measures to reserve and coordinate these bands at EU level.  

4. CONSUMER INTEREST 

Tariff transparency 

A guarantee of transparent tariffs and up-to-date information on standard terms and conditions 
is  one  of  the  cornerstones  of  the  consumer  protection  measures  enshrined  in  the  Universal 
Service Directive. 

In  this  context,  although  more  action  is  needed,  some  Member  States  have  recognised  the 
need  for  measures  to  improve  transparency  of  tariffs.  Various  web-based  price  comparison 
tools have been developed in a number of Member States. Where such tools exist, there is a 
notable trend towards widening their scope to cover additional platforms as well as bundled 
offers. 

Transparency of information relating to broadband speeds as well as maintaining the quality 
of broadband services appear to be issues of growing concern for consumers. 

Several Member States have taken steps to ensure that customers are granted safeguards for 
broadband speed delivery. Codes of practice, voluntary agreements with industry and various 
measures on quality of service introduced in Hungary, Greece, Latvia, France and Spain lay 
down clear requirements regarding broadband speeds. 

Several Member States have also introduced measures to reinforce transparency for premium 
rate  and  other  services  using  non-geographic  numbers,  where  lack  of  pricing  information 
often cause concern. 

Universal service 

Following  a  regular  review  of  the  scope  of  universal  service,  the  Commission  issued  a 
Communication on the subject in 2008, thereby initiating a forward-looking EU debate on the 
future of universal service, with particular reference to broadband services.  

Several Member States have limited the scope of the current universal service obligations as 
some  universal  service  elements  are  being  delivered  by  the  market  without  the  need  to 
designate any specific undertaking(s) (e.g. Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Latvia). 

In June 2008, the European Court of Justice issued an important ruling with regard to France, 
denouncing  a  national  rule  under  which  only  those  undertakings  able  to  provide  universal 
service  for  the  whole  of  the  national  territory  could  be  designated.  According  to  the  Court, 
Member  States  have  an  obligation  to  ensure  the  provision  of  universal  service  in  a  cost-
efficient  manner,  whilst  respecting  the  principles  of  objectivity,  non-discrimination  and 
minimum market distortion. 

Many Member States appear to have found it difficult to establish comprehensive directories 
and  directory  enquiry  services  including  both  the  fixed  and  mobile  subscribers  who  have 
consented to be listed. The Commission opened a total of 11 infringement proceedings in this 
regard,  all  of  which  have  been  closed  as  the  services  have  become  available,  with  the 
exception  of  the  case  concerning  Portugal,  which  is  pending  before  the  ECJ.  However, 
comprehensive directories and directory enquiry services are not yet available in Bulgaria and 
Romania. 

Service  providers  have  voiced  concern  with  respect  to  retention  rates  applied  by  mobile 
network operators for calls made to directory enquiry services.  

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Number portability 

Number portability is now available for both mobile and fixed users in all Member States with 
the  exception  of  Bulgaria  (for  fixed  numbers),  the  latter  having  been  granted  an  exemption 
until January 2009 under the accession agreement.  

The  number  of  ported  mobile  numbers  increased  over  the  past  year  (14.1  million  more  in 
2008)14. Since its introduction 60.2 million subscribers (10.3% of mobile numbers) had ported 
their number by October 2008 (8.3% in October 2007).  

Since the introduction of fixed number portability, almost 26 million subscribers had ported 
their numbers by October 2008 (a 37% increase on 2007).  

The prices applied for number portability vary to a great extent. While no wholesale charge is 
applied in some countries, e.g. Estonia and Spain (for mobile) and Germany (for fixed), these 
charges  are  as  high  as  €49  for  fixed  number  portability  in  Slovakia  and  €45  for  mobile 
number portability in Malta. 

Time taken in number of days for mobile number portability.  October 2008
(european average: 8.5 days) 

s
y
a
d

f
o
r
e
b
m
u
n
e
g
a
r
e
v
A

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

38

1

1

2

3

3

3

4

5

5

5

5

5

5

8

7

6

6

15

14

10

10

10

10

10

MT

IE

BE

DE

AT

SI

LU

CZ

EE

LT

ES

FI

SE

CY

HU

FR

PT

EL

LV

NL

RO

BG

SK

IT

PL

The time aspect is crucially important. In October 2008, the European average time taken for 
mobile  number  portability  was  8.5  days  and  for  fixed  number  portability  was  7.5  days  (7.8 
days in October 2007).  

The  time  taken  varies  significantly  across  Member  States  which  cannot  be  justified  by 
national  circumstances.  There  is  therefore  considerable  scope  to  reduce  the  time  taken  for 
number portability, which is why the Commission has recommended a duration of one day in 
its  Review  proposals.  At  least  six  Member  States  (UK,  Portugal,  Spain,  Slovakia,  Italy, 
Poland)  have  proposed  to  shorten  the  time  taken  to  port  numbers  to  between  one  and  five 
days.  

14 

Figures for UK not available. 

EN 

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Time taken in number of days for fixed number portability.  October 2008
(european average: 7.5 days) 

s
y
a
d

f
o
r
e
b
m
u
n
e
g
a
r
e
v
A

25

20

15

10

5

0

5

5

5

5

5

6

4

4

3

2

23

15

15

13

11

10

10

10

10

10

10

BE

SI

FR

UK

DE

ES

MT

AT

FI

CY

EL

IE

IT

NL

RO

SK

EE

PT

CZ

SE

PL

European emergency number 112 

(Data from Denmark and Luxembourg not available) 

The  single  European  emergency  number  112  can  now  be  dialled  to  contact  emergency 
services from fixed and mobile phones free of charge anywhere in the EU. However, there are 
still some areas for improvement, such as the provision of caller location information for 112 
calls from mobile phones, the handling of calls and raising of awareness.  

The infringement proceeding against Bulgaria for non-availability of 112 was closed in early 
2009, and out of seven infringement proceedings for failure to ensure the provision of caller 
location  information  for  112  calls  as  of  January  2009,  four  resulted  in  judgments  (the 
Netherlands,  Lithuania,  Slovakia  and  Italy).  Only  Slovakia  has  so  far  complied  with  the 
Court's  decision.  Moreover,  the  Commission  launched  an  infringement  proceeding  against 
Italy for failing to ensure that the handling and answering of 112 calls is as effective as for 
calls made to other national emergency numbers.  

In  June  2008,  the  Commission  launched  a  website15  dedicated  to  112  that  provides 
information in all the official EU languages. As a further part of the drive to highlight the 112 
number, 11 February was declared European 112 Day and the Commission will continue to 
promote 112 and to disseminate best practice amongst Member States. 

ePrivacy 

international  cooperation 

Despite 
initiatives  on  enforcement,  achieving  genuine 
confidentiality and security over electronic communications remains a challenge, in particular 
over  the  Internet,  as  illustrated  by  several  security  breaches  or  controversial  Internet 
marketing strategies in Member States (e.g. Germany, UK, Malta).  

15 

http://ec.europa.eu/112  

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5. CONCLUSIONS 

In 2008, the telecom sector continued to grow and is showing good resilience in the present 
difficult  economic  situation.  Even  though  the  state  of  competition  is  improving  and  new 
technologies  are  being  taken  up,  there  is  evidence  of  a  lack  of  consistency  in  regulatory 
approaches to the removal of persistent bottlenecks and to the roll-out of fibre.  

In  an  increasingly  challenging  environment  it  is  crucial  to  ensure  effective  implementation 
and  consistent  regulatory  approaches,  which  are  key  aims  of  the  reform  of  the  regulatory 
framework  started  by  the  Commission  in  November  2007.  It  is  necessary  to  complete  the 
Review as soon as possible in order to bring the single market closer to completion, give legal 
certainty to market players and deliver increased consumer benefits. 

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