On 9 July, the European Commission sent MasterCard a Statement of Objections in relation to (i) cross-border acquiring restrictions impeding cross-border payment acquisition, and (ii) inter-regional fees charged when cards from outside the EU are used within the EU. The case fits into a wider pattern of EU competition law enforcement, and indeed competition enforcement…
DetailsOfcom has announced the second phase of its strategic review of digital communications. The review was launched in March to examine competition, investment, innovation and the availability of all digital communications services. Ofcom expects to receive some guidance on future regulatory approaches for the next 10 years, including to address challenges such as the future…
DetailsToday Commissioner Vestager has been questioned by the Committee on Economic Affairs on the current position of the EU Commission on competition matters. She has outlined what her priorities were and then has been questioned by a few people on specific topics. Commissioner Vestager’s priorities are the following: DSM Google (android & advertising) Amazon (distribution agreements…
DetailsYesterday (15 July) the Mexican Telecoms Regulator (IFT) published the MVNO licence guidelines for public consultation. http://www.ift.org.mx/industria/consultas-publicas/consulta-publica-del-anteproyecto-de-lineamientos-para-la-comercializacion-de-servicios-moviles-por The market in Mexico for MVNOs could be very attractive as part of the Red Compartida initiative of the Ministry of Communications and forthcoming auction process for a wholesale wireless broadband operator on 700MHz. As part of the…
DetailsOfcom today fined EE (trading as 4GEE, Orange and T-Mobile) £1m for failing to comply with Ofcom’s rules on handling customer complaints. The investigation is part of the communications regulator own-initiative monitoring and enforcement programme on complaints handling pursuant to General Condition 14 . Ofcom’s investigation over EE found that, over the period investigated – from…
DetailsFrom 1 July 2015, calls to Freephone numbers, starting with 0800 or 0808, will be free to call from mobile phones as well as landlines. The changes introduced by Ofcom are part of an initiative named UK calling, which also envisages to clarify charges for consumers making calls to service numbers – starting 084, 087,…
DetailsFollowing the European Commission’s proposal for a telecoms single market in September 2013, the European Parliament, Council and Commission have finally reached an agreement on rules for safeguarding the open Internet in the EU – a principle known as net neutrality. Net neutrality is a principle that internet traffic should be treated without discrimination. This…
DetailsAs a result of the development of the Telecoms Single Market package, European Parliament and the European Commission have agreed that the roaming charges in Europe will be abolished from 15 June 2017. In the meantime as from 30 April 2016 roaming charges will drop substantially, as they will be subject to a cap of…
DetailsSince 20 June 2015 (the “Harmonisation Date“), General Condition 22 (Service Migrations and Home-Moves) (the “GC 22“) has been fully implemented. GC 22 came into force last year but its full application in respect of broadband services (and its harmonised application to fixed telecom and broadband services) was delayed until the Harmonisation Date. From…
DetailsAccording to Politico, after further drawbacks experienced by the draft legislative package in the third informal trilogue, on June 12 a breakfast meeting with EU telecoms ministers was held in order to overcome the impasse in roaming charges and open Internet access matters. From discussion held earlier in June, it seemed clear that the Council of…
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