A call by governments to lower remaining barriers to a...

said it wants priority given to several areas that are key to economic growth and European competitiveness, including the digital agenda and other services. Ministers noted the European Commission’s intention to report before October on the state of play and remaining obstacles to tackle to ensure completion of a fully functioning digital single market by 2015 and concrete measures to establish the single ICT market “as early as possible.” The conclusions “contains a very significant message for the Digital Agenda,” Kroes wrote on her blog (http://bit.ly/ZF38xV). “For anyone who uses digital communications -- from mobile phones to the internet -- this is important and welcome news,” she said. Although the EU has worked hard to liberalize and improve its telecom market, it’s “still essentially a collection of 27 distinct national” markets, she said. That fragmentation means that customer choice is limited to local offers which vary widely because of different regulations or the patchwork of uncoordinated past spectrum assignments for wireless operators, she said. Businesses don’t get the advantages of organizing operations on an EU-wide scale, and can’t reach the size needed to invest, innovate and compete globally, she said. Completing the single market in digital communications could boost Europe’s economy by more than 110 billion euros ($144 billion) per year, she said. In response to the Council request, Kroes will present a package of measures for governments’ approval by their October meeting, she said. Network operators said the Council conclusions echo their call for a single telecom market. “Broad reform is needed” to boost the sector’s competitiveness and unlock its potential to drive growth and jobs, said the European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association. A key reason for the industry’s current revenue decline is that market balkanization is hampering the development of new services, said ETNO Executive Board Chair Luigi Gambardella. He asked the EC for “bold reform” that includes more deregulation to reflect changing market realities and encourage investment, and that also allows more consolidation to reach the necessary scale for sustainability and competition. Independent telecom consultant Innocenzo Genna said many voices are pushing for major integration of the European telecom market, but they're pursuing different interests and scopes. It’s not a misunderstanding, he wrote in his radiobruxelleslibera blog (http://bit.ly/Z3Fx9d). Everyone is aware that the consolidation projects are different and may serve varying needs but “is confident that the result will be diverted towards the preferred scenario.” Incumbent network operators want more national consolidation, believing there are too many telcos in Europe and their number should be reduced via national mergers, Genna said. European Competition Commissioner Joaquín Almunia, on the other hand, wants cross-border consolidation. There are two different philosophies at play. Incumbents want a fixed market of a few big players in different geographic areas who possibly won’t compete against each other, while the EC envisions consolidated operators competing against each other in all markets, as happens sometimes in the mobile sector, he said. Kroes’ position on national versus EU-wide consolidation isn’t yet clear, something she aims to correct in coming weeks, he said.