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<P><FONT face=Tahoma>New EU telecoms rules<BR><BR>New telecom rules came into
force in the European Union on Saturday December 19.<BR><BR>With regard to
spectrum the EU announcement says:<BR><BR>"On the spectrum side, it is now up to
the Member States to adapt their allocation and licensing systems to the new
rules, <STRONG>to provide greater flexibility for spectrum
users</STRONG>.<BR><BR>"The Commission will prepare a proposal for <STRONG>the
first radio spectrum policy programme</STRONG>, an innovation of the reform
package, and the creation of a strategic framework to develop a coherent EU
spectrum policy. Today, a Commission Decision has also been published
<STRONG>modifying the Radio Spectrum Policy Group</STRONG> to fully enable its
advisory role on the preparation of these <STRONG>draft spectrum programmes for
the Commission</STRONG>."<BR><BR>Among the key reforms of the new EU telecoms
package are:<BR>"A <STRONG>new European Telecoms Authority</STRONG> - Body of
European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) - that will help
ensure fair competition and more consistency of regulation on the telecoms
markets"<BR><BR>"Encouraging competition and investment in next generation
access networks: <STRONG>The new rules</STRONG> bring legal certainty for
investment in <STRONG>next generation access (NGA) networks</STRONG>. These
networks, based <STRONG>on new optical fibre and wireless network
technologies</STRONG>, are <STRONG>replacing less efficient traditional
copper-wire networks</STRONG> and will allow high-speed internet
connections."<BR><BR>The other key reforms can be seen at<BR></FONT><A
href="http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/09/568&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en"><FONT
face=Tahoma>http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/09/568&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en</FONT></A><BR><BR><FONT
face=Tahoma>EU Press Release<BR></FONT><A
href="http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/1966&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en"><FONT
face=Tahoma>http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/1966&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en</FONT></A><BR><BR><FONT
face=Tahoma>EU Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG)<BR></FONT><A
href="http://rspg.groups.eu.int/"><FONT
face=Tahoma>http://rspg.groups.eu.int/</FONT></A> </P></BODY></HTML>