This week, the European Commission's eCommunications Consultation Task Force (eCCTF) published two new letters, concerning notifications which were made by the National Regulatory Authorities of Slovenia (its first notification) and Ireland.

The letters concern the following topics:

Ireland: Retail and wholesale leased lines (Markets 7, 13 and 14).

The letter is significant because it validates the inclusion of SDSL, ATM PVC, IP-VPN and Ethernet connections as part of the leased lines markets (footnote 9).

Slovenia: Wholesale unbundled access (Market 11).

In the context of this notification, the eCCTF expresses (not for the first time) its concerns about the choice of the cost-accounting methodology to determine wholesale charges for local loop unbundling, by making the following statement:

[...] "However, the Commission has concerns as to whether the cost accounting methodology proposed will be effective at addressing the lack of effective competition in the relevant market in the light of the non-replicable nature of the local loop, at least in the medium term, the existence of a margin squeeze between the wholesale and retail offerings and the policy objectives laid down in Article 8 of the Framework Directive.

In this context, the Commission would like to invite APEK to follow the market developments carefully and to ensure that the cost accounting method chosen, and its effect on wholesale access prices, is such as to enable wholesale access seekers to compete effectively with the incumbent at the retail level." [...]

The letters have been added to the .ZIP repositories of eCCTF letters, which can be accessed by clicking on Documents at the upper right of the T-REGS home page. Downloading the eCCTF letters is available for registered users only, but registration is free and subject to our Terms of Use, including our Privacy Statement.