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Thursday, January 28, 2010

BEREC formed - European FCC draws no closer?

The new super-souped-up European Regulators Group is founded today - with a name so preposterously badly chosen that its alternates BERT and GERT sound better every day...its called BEREC (B-Erik?) and its been welcomed by Ofcom for reasons that are clear - better the B-Eriks than letting the European Commission take executive control. In the future the European Commission will be required to seek BEREC's advice and take 'utmost account' of its guidance in making its own recommendations in the telecoms sector.It will have up to 28 Eurocrats staffing it alongside the 27 NRA chiefs so expect a delicious fudge, though its agenda items are very substantive:

Functional separation: establishing competitive telecoms markets by creating operationally separate businesses for local and backhaul network access."
But don't get too excited, here's what it says about net neutrality and its reactive position:
"During 2010, the debate on enhancing net neutrality is likely to develop further. The revision to the regulatory framework will make important revisions to strengthen requirements in this area. ERG will contribute to this debate and examine issues which fall within the scope of the electronic communications regulatory framework. In particular, ERG will work with the Commission and provide input to any measures or communication which will be developed by the Commission including a formal opinion in response to public documents issued by the Commission."
"Deliverable: ERG Opinion on Commission communication. Deadline: Depending on Commission initiatives"


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