EU overcomes final hurdle for overhaul of telecom rules

The European Union Tuesday cleared the final hurdle for sweeping new rules for the bloc's telecommunications sector as the parliament gave its blessing after months of delay. A vote in favor at the plenary session of the European Parliament confirmed a breakthrough reached earlier this month and will ensure the reforms enter into force next month and are transposed into national law by the middle of 2011. The new directive will end the dominance of incumbant telecom companies by requiring them to separate their networks from their telecom services businesses if there is insufficient competition and it will set up a European body of national regulators with greater powers to punish anti-competitive behavior and bring down prices for consumers. The new directive will also boost investment into fiber- optic broadband, bringing faster Internet services throughout the 27-nation bloc, and will modernize the use of the radio spectrum. Consumers' rights will be enhanced by requiring companies to transfer mobile phone numbers to rivals within one working day when customers switch between service providers, and Internet users will need to give their consent to the use of cookies -- personalized information automatically downloaded to a user's computer when they visit a Web site.