Tiscali 2007 Annual Report Download - page 34

REPORT ON OPERATIONS
33
Reverse termination: by means of Resolution No.. 417/06/CONS
Markets for the collection, termination and transit of calls on the
fixed public telephone network, assessment of the existence of
significant market power for the companies operating therein and
regulatory obligations which the companies who avail of such
power are subject to (markets No. 8, 9 and 10 among those
identified by the recommendation on significant markets of prod-
ucts and services of the European Commission)
– the AGCOM
acknowledged the principle of the
asymmetry in the application
of the reverse termination tariffs
on voice calls which are termi-
nated on the networks of alternative operators (OLOs). A fixed
tariff has therefore been introduced, based on the costs incurred
on average by the operators, and a corresponding gliding path
which will gradually reduce over the years. The operators have
also been authorized to request a higher starting value in the
event that the costs incurred are greater with respect to the ref-
erence value identified.
Consumer protection and quality of the services: AGCOM has
introduced various measures for increasing the accountability of
the telecommunications market and protecting the end users.
By way of example, these include
Resolution No. 126/07/CONS
Measures protecting the user base so as to facilitate the com-
prehension of the economic conditions for telephone services
and the choice between the various offers present on the mar-
ket
and Resolution No. 418/07/CONS – Provisions concerning
transparency of the telephone bill, selective call blocking and
protection of the user base.
A number of indications relating to
the quality of the services have also been made mandatory for
the voice services and for the broadband services and must be
published periodically by the operators together with a detailed
description of the services offered. These measures reinforce and
complete those of Italian Law No. 40/2007 (so-called “Bersani”
law) which imposed a series of restrictions on operators, elimi-
nating unjustified costs charged to the users and imposing obli-
gations aimed at reducing administrative delays.
Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) The Italian MVNO
market may potentially grow in the future thanks to the first agree-
ments signed during 2007 and the moral suasion action exer-
cised by AGCOM (together with the measures of the Antitrust
Authority). In detail, this will permit the fixed network operators
to access new markets and offer convergent and innovative
telecommunications services. Tiscali entered into an MVNO agree-
ment with Telecom Italia in July 2007 and will launch its own
service within the first half of 2008.
Broadband Wireless access technologies (in particular WiMAX):
By means of Resolution No.
209/07/CONS Procedures for the
awarding of frequency usage rights for Broadband Wireless Access
(BWA) systems in the 3.5 GHz band
– AGCOM established ten-
der procedures for the awarding of the broadband wireless fre-
quencies. Those awarded the contracts will have the possibility
of providing broadband access and related services using Wire-
less technology, mainly the WiMax system. The authorization
granted will have a validity of fifteen years and may be renewed.
Wholesale Line Rental (WLR) On 31 October 2007, by means
of Resolution No. 114/07/CIR AGCOM approved Telecom
Italia’s reference offer for 2007 for the Wholesale Line Rental
(WLR) service. By means of this new offer for access servic-
es, the alternative operators can provide the POTS and ISDN
voice service (solely in the area not open to unbundled access
– ULL) involving the exclusive administrative management of
the customer. In essence, at the time of subscribing to the
new service with an Alternative operator (OLO), the user inter-
rupts all dealings with TI (and stops receiving a Telecom Italia
bill). The line rental which used to be paid to Telecom Italia,
will be paid under wholesale by the Alternative operator to the
incumbent .
Bitstream service supply: By means of
Resolution No.
249/07/CONS Formalities for achieving the supply of bitstream
services in pursuance of resolution No. 34/06/CONS,
AGCOM
established the principles on which Telecom must base the
new type of wholesale broadband Internet access product.
Besides the greater flexibility for the alternative operator (OLO)
when configuring the services to be offered to the end cus-
tomer, the main difference with respect to the previous whole-
sale ADSL product also involves a substantial reduction in
costs (the new Bitstream product is based on the principle of
cost orientation, while the previous product was based on the
“retail minus” principle). With the old wholesale ADSL prod-
uct it was also only possible to repeat the technical profiles
present in the Telecom Italia commercial range.
With regard to the UK telecommunications market, the follow-
ing activities were implemented by the local watchdog com-
mittee OFCOM:
Broadband
3On 15 November 2007, Ofcom published the results of the
second consultation relating to the review of the wholesale
broadband Internet access market in the UK. Ofcom pro-
poses to deregulate the most densely populated areas of the
country, covering the investment areas under Unbundling
Local Loop (unbundled access). Ofcom is the first national
regulatory watchdog for telecommunications in the EU to
propose the definition of sub-national geographic markets
for wholesale broadband access in areas where the nation-
al operator British Telecom (BT) no longer holds significant
market power. The watchdog maintains that, thanks to the
regulation of the wholesale access points (ULL and bitstream),
competition is developing in the UK with alternative opera-
tors who make increasingly heavier investments in their own
networks and in connections to the local line of the incum-
bent operator.
3In February 2007, Ofcom introduced the so-called “General
Condition 22”, commencing a rigid legislative regime relating
to the formalities for the migration of users between operators.
All this was accompanied by greater attention towards the irreg-