A split has erupted in the European Commission over plans to overhaul European telecoms rules and allow regulators to force the separation of the services and network arms of telecoms companies, internal EU documents show.
EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding wants to push ahead with a proposal that could help force telecoms companies to separate their services and networks arms if they do not operate in competitive markets.
But officials working for Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes and Guenter Verheugen, the Industry Commissioner, have attacked the proposal, which also involves creating a pan-EU regulatory authority, the internal documents show.
They warn that the proposal could create more bureaucracy and harm investment, a view shared by some former monopolies in the EU's telecoms industry. However, new telecoms entrants argue Ms Reding's plans are needed to boost competition.
"The legislative amendments proposed introduce more bureaucracy, increase the complexity and duration of the administrative process and will tend to result in more regulation," competition officials working for Ms Kroes wrote in an internal document obtained by Reuters.
"...almost 10 years after full liberalisation of electronic communications, market developments clearly show increased competition and a decreasing need for regulatory intervention," the document said.
Ms Reding argued that competition problems remain in a number of telecom sectors, especially for broadband internet services, which should be resolved by national regulators, or the proposed pan-EU regulator, together with the Commission.
Ms Reding said "functional separation", where a company's network and business divisions would be operated separately and would charge each other and any rival the same rates for their services, is needed.
A spokesman for Ms Reding told a news conference on Tuesday that she supported functional separation as it has been done in Britain, adding that EU rules on how to enforce it would ensure legal clarity and avoid distortion of competition across the EU.
EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding wants to push ahead with a proposal that could help force telecoms companies to separate their services and networks arms if they do not operate in competitive markets.
But officials working for Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes and Guenter Verheugen, the Industry Commissioner, have attacked the proposal, which also involves creating a pan-EU regulatory authority, the internal documents show.
They warn that the proposal could create more bureaucracy and harm investment, a view shared by some former monopolies in the EU's telecoms industry. However, new telecoms entrants argue Ms Reding's plans are needed to boost competition.
"The legislative amendments proposed introduce more bureaucracy, increase the complexity and duration of the administrative process and will tend to result in more regulation," competition officials working for Ms Kroes wrote in an internal document obtained by Reuters.
"...almost 10 years after full liberalisation of electronic communications, market developments clearly show increased competition and a decreasing need for regulatory intervention," the document said.
Ms Reding argued that competition problems remain in a number of telecom sectors, especially for broadband internet services, which should be resolved by national regulators, or the proposed pan-EU regulator, together with the Commission.
Ms Reding said "functional separation", where a company's network and business divisions would be operated separately and would charge each other and any rival the same rates for their services, is needed.
A spokesman for Ms Reding told a news conference on Tuesday that she supported functional separation as it has been done in Britain, adding that EU rules on how to enforce it would ensure legal clarity and avoid distortion of competition across the EU.