IP: Leased lines: Commission acts to bring down cost of communications in Europe

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 16:24:33 +0100
> From: David WILLIAMS <David.O.Williams () cern ch>
> To: "Prof. David Farber" <farber () cis upenn edu>
>
> 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 full story with some comparative pricing and the ceilings is at:-
> http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/ 
> 99/873|0|RAPID&lg=EN