EU Telecoms Policy

Latest news about the European Union's policy on telecommunications.

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Samsung - Enforcement of ETSI standards essential patents (SEPs) — 21 December 2012, 23:43 CET

The European Commission has informed Samsung of its preliminary view that Samsung's seeking of injunctions against Apple in various EU Member States on the basis of its mobile phone standard-essential patents ("SEPs") amounts to an abuse of a dominant position prohibited by EU antitrust rules. While recourse to injunctions is a possible remedy for patent infringements, such conduct may be abusive where SEPs are concerned and the potential licensee is willing to negotiate a licence on Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (so-called "FRAND") terms. The sending of a Statement of Objections does not prejudge the final outcome of the investigation.

Samsung injunctions against Apple breach rules: EU — 21 December 2012, 23:42 CET

The European Commission said Friday that South Korea's Samsung Electronics was abusing its dominant market position in certain technologies when it took out injunctions against fierce rival Apple.

EU says to set out anti-trust case against Samsung soon — 20 December 2012, 21:37 CET

The EU will set out its case against Samsung Electronics "very soon" following an anti-trust probe of the smartphone and mobile tablet market, Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said Thursday.

Digital Agenda Review - new digital priorities for 2013-2014 — 19 December 2012, 00:20 CET

The European Commission has adopted seven new priorities for the digital economy and society. The digital economy is growing at seven times the rate of the rest of the economy, but the Commission says this potential is currently held back by a patchy pan-European policy framework. Today's priorities follow a comprehensive policy review and place new emphasis on the most transformative elements of the original 2010 Digital Agenda for Europe.

Samsung drops injunction requests against Apple in Europe — 19 December 2012, 00:02 CET

South Korean tech giant Samsung is to drop a legal request to ban Apple products in five European countries but will maintain lawsuits for alleged patent infringement, a Samsung spokeswoman told AFP on Tuesday.

EU clears Li Ka-shing acquisition of Orange Austria — 12 December 2012, 17:30 CET

The European Commission cleared Wednesday the acquisition of the Orange Austria mobile business by Hutchison 3G, part of the ports-to-telecoms conglomerate owned by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing.

Hungary to scrap controversial 'crisis' taxes — 22 November 2012, 10:49 CET

Hungary announced late Wednesday that it will do away with controversial "crisis taxes" on the retail and telecommunications sectors from January 2013, after the European Union (EU) called for them to be scrapped.

EU denounces Iran's jamming of satellite TV broadcasts — 14 November 2012, 20:54 CET

The European Union on Wednesday denounced Iran's "deliberate jamming" of television and radio satellite broadcasts that deprive its citizens of access to free information, and called on Tehran to abide by global telecommunications laws.

Harmonisation of radio frequency bands - boost for 4G — 07 November 2012, 13:32 CET

The European Commission is add another 120 MHz to the radio spectrum portfolio for 4G technologies, such as LTE (Long Term Evolution), around the 2 GHz band. This band is currently solely used for UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) wireless communications, known as 3G networks.

Calling Kosovo: you must dial Serbia first — 31 October 2012, 20:17 CET

Kosovo may have declared independence in 2008, but when it comes to phone lines, it is still part of Serbia, which has refused to recognise the breakaway territory's sovereignty.

Broadcasters slam channel jamming in Middle East — 22 October 2012, 16:18 CET

The European Broadcasting Union on Monday deplored what it called targeted jamming of EU and US satellite news services in parts of the Middle East, blaming Syria and Iran for the meddling.

BBC services jammed in Middle East, Europe — 18 October 2012, 17:04 CET

The BBC said Thursday its services in the Middle East and Europe were being deliberately jammed, along with those of other broadcasters.

Iran slams EU satellite bans as illegal — 16 October 2012, 16:47 CET

Iran on Tuesday slammed a decision by France's Eutelsat and Arqiva of Britain to stop broadcasting Iranian state television channels as "without legal justification."

Love to chat but trillion-euro phone bill? — 10 October 2012, 14:52 CET

A Frenchwoman who received a telephone bill for an amount equivalent to nearly 6,000 times the country's annual economic output has had the real amount she owed waived -- after finally convincing the company they must have made a mistake.

Deutsche Telekom wins EUR 400m contracts in Spain — 20 September 2012, 11:07 CET

German telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom said Thursday it has won contracts worth 400 million euros to supply IT and telecommunications systems to the Catalonia regional government in Spain.

Galileo Satellite Navigation Agency now based in Prague — 06 September 2012, 17:21 CET

The European GNSS Agency (GSA) inaugurated its new premises in Prague on 6 September. Previously headquartered provisionally in Brussels, the GSA moved its seat to Prague over this summer, as had been agreed by the EU Heads of State and Government on 10 December 2010.

EU clears UK 'mobile phone wallets' venture — 05 September 2012, 17:03 CET

The European Commission said Wednesday that it has cleared a joint venture between operators Telefonica of Spain and Vodafone and Everything Everywhere in Britain in mobile phone commerce.

Promoting the shared use of radio spectrum resources in the internal market — 04 September 2012, 23:36 CET

In its Communication on "Promoting the shared use of radio spectrum resources in the internal market", published on 3 September, the European Commission pushes and supports EU Member States to move to an enhanced innovation-friendly internal market framework for the shared use of spectrum. Meeting the growing spectrum needs resulting from the exponential growth in wireless data traffic and the increasing importance of wireless connectivity in the economy, is limited by the absence of vacant spectrum. However, says the Commission, the radio spectrum is a unique resource that can be re-used more efficiently with advances in technologies. This makes additional spectrum resources available and lowers the spectrum access hurdles for new users. To cope with the demand and to attract investments into new technologies, the EU needs a supportive regulatory framework that enables legally binding spectrum sharing contracts between users to encourage wireless innovation in the internal market.

Telecommunication Market and Regulatory Developments 2011 — 19 June 2012, 12:00 CET

Greater data consumption and a shift to mobile technologies (such as smartphones) and mobile services (such as 3G internet, music streaming and webmail) are the most significant trends in the information & communications technologies (ICT) sector, which now accounts for 8 million jobs and 6% of EU GDP, according to the Annual Digital Agenda scoreboard.

Digital Agenda Scoreboard - need for structural economic reform across Europe and surplus of ICT jobs — 19 June 2012, 12:04 CET

Europe's citizens, businesses and innovator s are generating enough digital demand to put Europe into sustainable economic growth, but failure to supply enough fast internet, online content, research and relevant skills is undermining this potential. Greater data consumption and a shift to mobile technologies (such as smartphones) and mobile services (such as 3G internet, music streaming and webmail) are the most significant trends in the information & communications technologies (ICT) sector, which now accounts for 8 million jobs and 6% of EU GDP.

Google lodges Nokia, Microsoft complaint with EU — 04 June 2012, 17:48 CET

US Internet giant Google has lodged a complaint with European Union competition authorities against Finland's Nokia and its US software peer Microsoft.

Roaming - guide — 10 May 2012, 16:11 CET

The cost of using mobile phones, smartphones and tablets when travelling within the EU will fall sharply from 1 July this year, under a provisional agreement between MEPs and national governments voted in by Parliament on Thursday 10 May.

EU caps smartphone roaming prices to fight 'rip-offs' — 11 May 2012, 15:47 CET

Europeans will pay less roaming charges when using their smartphones or tablets across EU borders from July 1 under new price caps to end exorbitant bills for consumers.

EU Roaming Regulation — 10 May 2012, 14:03 CET

Following today’s European Parliament vote approving the latest Roaming Regulation (which enters into force across the EU July 1, 2012), Monique Goyens, Director General of The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) commented:

Telecom Italia posts EUR 4.7 bn loss for 2011 — 29 March 2012, 18:54 CET

Telecom Italia posted Thursday a net loss of 4.726 billion euros for 2011, as worsening economic prospects forced it to make a 7.3 billion euro goodwill write-down on its domestic business.