Regulatory authorities want more power in the telephone market
In light of the slow progress in the Swiss telecommunications market, regulatory authorities are seeking more power from the Federal Council. Swisscom would face restrictions. Sunrise and Orange are generally pleased with this development. Swisscom intends to review the demands made by the Competition Commission (Weko), the Communications Commission (Comcom), and the Price Supervisor.
In view of the sluggish progress in the Swiss telecoms market, the supervisory authorities want more power from the Federal Council. Swisscom would be restricted.
The Federal Communications Commission (ComCom) will now be able to review the forwarding and access prices for Swisscom's competitors ex officio, as was announced at a media conference in Bern on Thursday, according to SDA.
Until now, ComCom has only been able to review access prices following a complaint from a provider. The authorities are now seeking to amend the Telecommunications Act (TCA). If there are indications that other providers are not receiving non-discriminatory and cost-based access to the networks, ComCom wants to be able to intervene on its own initiative in future.
The requested change to the law concerns access or interconnection prices at the so-called wholesale level, i.e. between telecommunications companies. According to the authorities, the aim is to ensure that providers can no longer agree among themselves on a price at an excessive level and thus hinder competition.
With ComCom's timely intervention, the framework conditions would be the same for all market participants. This would improve legal and investment security in the market. In addition, price reductions for network access decreed by the authorities could be passed on to consumers more quickly.Sunrise and Orange generally pleasedSunrise and Orange are generally pleased with the attempt by three supervisory authorities to reduce network access prices. Swisscom intends to meet the demands of the Competition Commission (ComCo), the Communications Commission
(Comcom) and the price watchdog.
"In principle, we welcome every step that leads to a more consistent implementation of telecoms liberalization," said Orange spokesperson Therese Wenger. But now we need to see how this is actually implemented by the Federal Council and Parliament. A key point, however, is access to future infrastructures such as the fiber optic network, which is not mentioned in the three authorities' proposal.
Sunrise is calling for a fundamental change in the system of state supervision: the simplest solution would be to regulate in advance instead of after the fact, as is currently the case. This would allow ComCom to intervene independently and correct anti-market behavior. However, this was rejected by Parliament in the last revision of the Telecommunications Act.
"This is urgently needed because the existing regulatory system has meant that procedures dating back to the year 2000 have not yet been finally concluded," Sunrise writes in a communiqué. This situation is unsatisfactory and prevents investment in new technologies. For example, the broadband Internet market was only opened up around seven years after liberalization in the EU. Like Orange, Sunrise would also like to regulate access to fiber optic networks in the revision of the Telecommunications Act.
The infrastructure competition between Swisscom and the cable network operator Cablecom has proven to be insufficient. Swisscom is still dominant in many areas. For its part, Swisscom is keeping a low profile on the demands of Weko, Comcom and the price watchdog: "We will analyze the proposals," said spokesman Olaf Schulze.
The Federal Communications Commission (ComCom) will now be able to review the forwarding and access prices for Swisscom's competitors ex officio, as was announced at a media conference in Bern on Thursday, according to SDA.
Until now, ComCom has only been able to review access prices following a complaint from a provider. The authorities are now seeking to amend the Telecommunications Act (TCA). If there are indications that other providers are not receiving non-discriminatory and cost-based access to the networks, ComCom wants to be able to intervene on its own initiative in future.
The requested change to the law concerns access or interconnection prices at the so-called wholesale level, i.e. between telecommunications companies. According to the authorities, the aim is to ensure that providers can no longer agree among themselves on a price at an excessive level and thus hinder competition.
With ComCom's timely intervention, the framework conditions would be the same for all market participants. This would improve legal and investment security in the market. In addition, price reductions for network access decreed by the authorities could be passed on to consumers more quickly.Sunrise and Orange generally pleasedSunrise and Orange are generally pleased with the attempt by three supervisory authorities to reduce network access prices. Swisscom intends to meet the demands of the Competition Commission (ComCo), the Communications Commission
(Comcom) and the price watchdog.
"In principle, we welcome every step that leads to a more consistent implementation of telecoms liberalization," said Orange spokesperson Therese Wenger. But now we need to see how this is actually implemented by the Federal Council and Parliament. A key point, however, is access to future infrastructures such as the fiber optic network, which is not mentioned in the three authorities' proposal.
Sunrise is calling for a fundamental change in the system of state supervision: the simplest solution would be to regulate in advance instead of after the fact, as is currently the case. This would allow ComCom to intervene independently and correct anti-market behavior. However, this was rejected by Parliament in the last revision of the Telecommunications Act.
"This is urgently needed because the existing regulatory system has meant that procedures dating back to the year 2000 have not yet been finally concluded," Sunrise writes in a communiqué. This situation is unsatisfactory and prevents investment in new technologies. For example, the broadband Internet market was only opened up around seven years after liberalization in the EU. Like Orange, Sunrise would also like to regulate access to fiber optic networks in the revision of the Telecommunications Act.
The infrastructure competition between Swisscom and the cable network operator Cablecom has proven to be insufficient. Swisscom is still dominant in many areas. For its part, Swisscom is keeping a low profile on the demands of Weko, Comcom and the price watchdog: "We will analyze the proposals," said spokesman Olaf Schulze.
