The FINANCIAL — The European Commission has suspended a proposal by the German Telecoms Regulator (BNetzA) to set fixed termination rates for alternative operators, according to the European Commission.
The termination rates proposed by Germany are three times higher than the average of countries which follow the recommended approach set out in EU telecom rules. Termination rates are the charges telecoms operators charge each other to terminate a call in their respective networks. Each operator has market power over access to customers on its own network. These costs are ultimately passed on to consumers and businesses, according to the European Commission.
"It is important for building up a real single market that both operators and consumers face termination rates in Germany that are in line with those in other EU Member States," said Neelie Kroes,European Commission Vice President.
Under BNetzA's proposal, the fixed termination rates that German alternative operators would be allowed to charge range from €0.0036€/minute (peak) to €0.0025€/minute (off-peak). These figures correspond to the termination rates BNetzA proposed for Deutsche Telekom early this year. Deutsche Telekom's termination rates were also suspended by the Commission in March since they did not reflect the price of the provision of an efficient termination service. BEREC (the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications) fully supports the Commission's line on this issue, according to the European Commission.
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