news: EU Wants Telecom Deregulation

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

EU Wants Telecom Deregulation
AP 10/26 11:09 EDT V0975
Copyright 1994. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
   BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- The European Union's executive body has agreed
to press for a sweeping deregulation of the telecommunications industry in
the 12 EU member nations.
   The plan was adopted Tuesday evening by the EU's 17-member executive
commission. It seeks to phase out of state monopolies in telecommunications
by Jan. 1. 1998.
   The nations agreed in June last year to end state monopolies on
telephone service by 1998, with exemptions for countries with less-advanced
systems.
   The commission's new proposal calls for the deregulation of services
such as data transmission, mobile communications and corporate phone
networks. The plan would also allow utility and cable television companies
to offer telecommunications services by next year.
   Ministers from member nations will be asked to vote on the plan at a
meeting next month.
   "The information revolution has speeded up considerably," EU Industry
Commissioner Martin Bangemann said in a statement. "Economic as well as
technical reasons require increasingly a rapid and efficient
liberalization."