EU agrees to draft deal on big telecoms reform

The European Union reached a draft deal on a sweeping reform of the bloc's telecoms rules on Monday to increase competition and drive down prices for consumers. The European Parliament and the bloc's member states, who have joint say, reached agreement after weeks of talks. The reform, which was authored by EU Telecoms Commissioner, Viviane Reding, will be formally adopted by parliament in April or May. It sets up a new pan-EU telecoms body, the body of European regulators in electronic communications (BEREC) taking decisions by majority vote instead of the consensual approach adopted when national regulators in the EU discuss policy jointly. But BEREC is still a watered down version of the powerful pan-EU body that telecoms regulator Reding had envisioned but member states found too threatening to national regulatory sovereignty. The reform clarifies rules on investment in new next-generation networks so that access for competitors to a dominant network for a fee is maintained. A new "last resort" measure also is given to national regulators to increase competition by "functionally" separating an operator's network from its retail arm, a step that was bitterly opposed by telecom giants. The reform also beefs up consumer rights by making it easier to change a provider, including a requirement to be able to switch within one working day.