New EU package heralds a new age for internet and telecoms consumers

Strasbourg, 24th November

 

Telecoms Package passed by European Parliament

Strasbourg, 24th November 2009 -- The EU's Telecoms package, which will increase consumer rights, create a more competitive telecoms market, and make high-speed internet more accessible, has been given the final thumbs up by the European Parliament today after more than two years work. Malcolm Harbour MEP, Chairman of the parliament's internal market committee who steered the package's consumer rights provisions through the parliament, and ECR industry spokesman Giles Chichester MEP, hailed its adoption.

The most significant aspects of the package will:

1) Give consumers the right to change their telephone operator within one working day whilst keeping their old number;

2) Provide consumers with clearer information on the promotional offers for which consumers qualify and the terms associated with their contract;

3) Create a more neutral net, so as to prevent service providers inhibiting or even blocking certain services such as voice communications over the internet. If there are limitations to connection speed, consumers must be informed before signing any contract;

4) Protect against data breaches and spam and if there is a breach the customer will have to be informed;

5) Create a new telecoms body that brings together national regulators, who have a better understanding of local conditions, to facilitate in the creation of a single market in telecoms;

6) Accelerate broadband access by better managing the allocation of radio spectrum to make wireless broadband more generally available in areas where building new broadband infrastructure would be too costly;

7) Create a legal framework to encourage the development of next generation access (NGA) networks based on optical fibre and wireless technologies.

It is also absolutely clear that the package does not create a 'three strikes and you're out' rule for copyright infringements. Under the package agreed today, any citizen facing disconnection must be entitled to a fair and impartial procedure first.

The package has already been passed by national governments so it will now become law next month.

Mr Harbour, Rapporteur on part of the telecoms package, said:

"This package will create the environment for strong competition in the telecoms market, better and faster internet access and clearer consumer rights.

"We have already seen a revolution in our daily lives thanks to recent advances in technology which have brought broadband internet into our homes and onto our mobile phones. This legislation aims to facilitate new investment and development of telecoms technology so that everyone can have access to high-speed internet and the latest equipment.

"There has been a great deal of scaremongering that this package would create provisions for internet users who infringe copyright laws to have their IP addresses blocked. This was never the case as the package was intended to enhance consumer rights, not to enforce copyright on the internet. I believe that fundamentally the internet should be free, although it should not be entirely regulation free. That is why the European Parliament has put in place clear safeguards for users that national governments must build into any law that would enable disconnection for acts of infringement.

"We will all benefit a great deal from this new legislation."

Giles Chichester MEP, ECR spokesman on the parliament's industry committee, said:

"It is important that we have the right regulatory framework to encourage investment and ensure consumers have access to all the relevant information, however we have avoided over-regulation that would have stifled innovation.

"We argued all along against a single EU telecoms regulator, which would have no understanding of local market conditions. Fortunately, our view won through and we now have greater independence for national regulators but better coordination at European level in order to create a more robust cross-border telecoms market which will increase competition, and drive prices down and quality up."

ENDS

Contact: Malcolm Harbour on +33 3881 75132; Giles Chichester on +33 3881 75296.
ECR Press Office - James Holtum on +32 473 861762

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