COMPETITION/TELECOMMUNICATIONS: COMMISSION BEGINS INQUIRY INTO LEASED LINE TARIFFS.

Three areas, three phases.The aim of the Commission's inquiry is to establish whether current commercial practices and prices infringe EU competition rules, in particular the prohibition of restrictive practices and abuses of dominant position. The Commission's inquiries will involve requesting information from incumbent fixed network operators, mobile network operators, a number of newly-authorised fixed telecommunications network operators, as well as large business users and national authorities, it said in a statement. For practical reasons, the EU executive says it will assess these three areas in three phases, starting with the inquiry into leased lines with a second investigation to follow before the end of the year. "The Commission is aware that leased line tariffs remain high despite the creation of competing infrastructure by new entrants", it said on October 22. A recent survey by the International Telecommunications Users Association (INTUG), comparing leased lines tariffs applied by incumbent operators across the EU, showed that cross-border tariffs are currently more than 120% of national tariffs in all Member States and in some cases are as much as 500% of the national rate. The Commission has also received informal complaints of alleged discriminatory pricing and treatment, delays of delivery or quality of service. This is only the third sectoral inquiry of its kind ever launched by the...