Brussels split over telecoms

BRUSSELS SPLIT OVER TELECOMS
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Sarah Laitner]
Sharp divisions have emerged within the European Commission about a plan to intensify competition in the region’s telecommunications market by splitting up big companies such as Deutsche Telekom and Spain’s Telefónica. Neelie Kroes, European Union competition chief, and Günter Verheugen, the industry commissioner, have attacked a proposed overhaul by fellow commissioner Viviane Reding of laws to govern the bloc’s $407bn-a-year electronic communications sector. They warn the proposed review could create more bureaucracy and harm investment. The angry response by two heavyweight EU commissioners exposes tensions in the Commission about how to strengthen the development of ultra-fast broadband networks and to allow new operators to flourish in the union. Under the plans, a telecom company with a dominant market position could, if other measures failed, be forced to separate ­ but not to sell ­ its networks and services divisions to guarantee that rivals could access its infrastructure.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/1c0f70a8-6ae1-11dc-9410-0000779fd2ac.html
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