European Telecoms liberalization hailed as success

[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Sarah Laitner]
Telecoms liberalization has brought lower prices and more choice for consumers, the European Commission claimed on Monday, but it warned that operators could face further regulation to encourage competition. Viviane Reding, commissioner for information society and media, hailed the European market as a success story for consumers. She said broadband use had risen sharply last year in the EU, to 53m subscriptions, as a result of lower prices and higher speeds, driven by increased competition. There were four times more fixed-telephone operators than in 1998 when the market was fully opened to competition. The average cost of making a national fixed line call had fallen 65 per cent since 2000, she said.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/2d040bc6-a27e-11da-9096-0000779e2340.html
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