TELECOMMUNICATIONS: PRIVATE FRENCH OPERATORS APPEAL TOP THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Summary:

France's two private telecommunications operators have appealed to the European Commission to challenge what they regard as the excessive cost of the public telephone service provided in France by France Telecom.

In a statement published on June 4, AFOPT, the French Association of Private Telecommunications operators, and AOST, the Association of service operators call on the Commission to determine whether the levies and methods of calculation used in France are consistent with Community law. According to Community parlance, the term "universal service" covers a basic public service including special rates, public pay phones, affordable services in all areas, etc. In France, the universal service is provided by the erstwhile state monopoly, France Telecom, with new operators contributing to its cost in proportion to their market share. The cost of the service is estimated annually by the Telecommunications...