EC rejects AGCOM’s 2013 wholesale broadband access prices
(ANSA) – Brussels, December 12 – The European Commission (EC) on Thursday asked Italy’s telecoms regulator AGCOM to withdraw or change its proposal for prices on wholesale broadband access for all of 2013.
Access prices are fees that Telecom Italia (TI) charges competitors who want to sell broadband services based on TI’s copper fixed-line network.
AGCOM’s scheme calculates fees on the basis of “inappropriate data” which have the potential “to harm broadband investment incentives for both Telecome Italia and other operators,” the EC said in a statement.
AGCOM’s fee calculations lead to “an unjustifiable price reduction” that does not provide TI with a reasonable profit, nor does it give “an appropriate price signal for alternative infrastructure investments,” the EC said.
The EC recommended that AGCOM “updates its fee calculations (WACC) on the basis of available up-to-date data, in a way that more accurately reflects persistent market developments”. The EC warned AGCOM in August that its new regulatory pricing scheme might not be compatible with EU telecoms rules, since the proposed prices for 2013 were based on outdated data from a 2009-2012 market review. If AGCOM decides not to comply with the EC request, the EC could choose to pursue enforcement action.