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[FYI] 64 kBit Internet Standleitung: EURO 80,-- / Monat?
- To: debate@fitug.de
- Subject: [FYI] 64 kBit Internet Standleitung: EURO 80,-- / Monat?
- From: "Axel H Horns" <horns@t-online.de>
- Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 21:09:42 +0200
- Comment: This message comes from the debate mailing list.
- Organization: PA Axel H Horns
- Reply-to: horns@t-online.de
- Sender: owner-debate@fitug.de
http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&do
c=IP/99/873|0|RAPID&lg=EN
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Leased lines: Commission acts to bring down cost of communications in
Europe
DN: IP/99/873 Date: 1999-11-24
TXT: FR EN
PDF: FR EN
Word Processed: FR EN
IP/99/873
Brussels, 24 November 1999
Leased lines: Commission acts to bring down cost of communications in
Europe
The European Commission has adopted a Recommendation on the pricing
of short-distance leased lines. The Recommendation sets price
ceilings for short distance leased lines that incumbent
telecommunication operators charge. Leased lines are short distance
communications links that incumbent telecommunications companies rent
to other network operators. These short distance circuits constitute
essential building blocks for the internal communications networks of
European businesses. Leased lines are increasingly used also by small
and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to have a permanent high speed
access to the Internet. The sector of leased lines, data networks and
business communications is becoming increasingly important in
particular with the emergence of e-commerce, and already represents
about 25% of the total telecommunications market in some Member
States. The Recommendation also encourages unbundling of the local
loop and other measures to stimulate competition in the local access
networks.
"The high price of leased lines in Europe has been detrimental to the
competitiveness of European companies and has hampered the spread of
the Internet in Europe", said Mr. Erkki Liikanen, Commissioner
responsible for Enterprise Policy and the Information Society. "This
recommendation will be of benefit to all Internet users, and in
particular to SMEs."
Leased lines can carry high volumes of voice and data and multimedia
traffic. In particular Internet Service Providers rely extensively on
the availability of leased lines to connect to the world-wide
Internet backbone.
Competition in the leased lines market has been slow to develop, and
new investment in competing communications infrastructure is
concentrated in the profitable high capacity routes between big
cities. Incumbent telecommunications operators remain the dominant
suppliers for all types of leased lines, and especially for short
distance local leased lines, where they face little competition.
Consequently, prices remain high in most Member States.
The recommended price ceilings are based on the prices in the three
lowest cost Member States in the EU (see annex). This approach
follows a previous Commission Recommendation, that addressed the
price of interconnection to switched networks, and which has been
instrumental in making interconnection charges in Europe to converge
and be among the most competitive in the world.
The Recommendation on leased lines interconnection sets the following
price ceilings for the monthly rental of a leased transmission
circuit, of length 5 km, provided by an incumbent telecommunications
operator to another operator so that can competitively link a user
into its backbone network. These recommended price ceilings provide
guidance to the National Regulatory Authorities to assess whether the
prices are cost-oriented as required by Community legislation.
64 Kilobit/s capacity circuit: 80 Euro/month (excl VAT)
2 Megabit/s capacity circuit: 350 Euro/month (excl VAT)
34 Megabit/s capacity circuit: 2600 Euro/month (excl VAT)
These price ceilings are comparable to the prices that are found in
other competitive markets, like the USA.
[...]
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