Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2000)394 - Unbundled access to the local loop

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dossier COM(2000)394 - Unbundled access to the local loop.
source COM(2000)394 EN
date 12-07-2000
In response to the conclusions of the special European Council of Lisbon of 23-24 March 2000, the following up commitments made in its Communication reporting on the results of the public consultation on the 1999 Review and the orientations for the new Regulatory Framework, the Commission proposes this Regulation on unbundled access to the local loop to enforce the provision of full unbundling and shared access of the copper local loop of operators having significant market power, by 31 December 2000.

The copper local loop refers to the physical circuit between the customers' premises and the telecommunications operator's local switch or equivalent facility in the local access network. The local access network remains one of the least competitive segments of the liberalised telecommunications market, and is one of the areas which has been examined in the Commission's inquiry into the telecommunications sector, launched in October 1999  i. Providing unbundled local loops to all new entrants will increase the level of competition and technological innovation in the local access network, which in turn stimulate the competitive provision of a full range of telecommunication services from voice telephony to broadband multimedia and high-speed internet services. This will facilitate the growth of e-commerce and e-business in Europe.

The Commission already adopted a non-binding Recommendation  i on unbundled access to the local loop, complemented by an associated Communication  i, and the national regulatory authorities in Member States have indicated that without a strong legal base upon which to mandate unbundled access to the local loop, they could have difficulty achieving the goal set by the European Council.

The purpose of the proposed Regulation is to provide a legal base to enforce unbundled access to local loops of operators having significant market power by 31 December 2000.