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National development "Users will be able to decide for themselves what services to use, and will possibly configure their own or use the services offered from one or more providers on one or more platforms." premium rate services. Online sales could be significantly higher if the Internet were more secure. The cost advantages of home banking or electronic services could benefit companiesandcustomersalike. Wecannotexpecttopreventeachand every form of fraud and misuse, despite specific measures, but it is essentialnottobecomplacent,andto strengthen users' confidence in technologyandservicesbytakingaction. Constantvigilance TheGermanregulatoryauthorityhas been largely successful combating dialler misuse by, for example, compiling a register of diallers that must meetpreciselydefinedconsumerprotection requirements. Yet experience showstheneedforconstantvigilance, due to constant efforts to circumvent therequirements. The universal nature of the Internet allowsactivitiestobemovedtoother countries, consequently preventing national regulatory authorities from intervening. In many cases, objectives require international action flanked by national measures. These measures should not be the responsibility of stateinstitutionsalone.Networkoperators and service providers should playapart. Concerted action is the only way to stemabuseandspurgrowth.TheITU hasafundamentalroleinternationally, co-ordinating as it does internationalInternetgovernance. friendlyspeed.Currently,then,broadband and its promotion is one of the most important issues in Germany andEuropeasawhole. The European Regulators Group (ERG),agroupofnationalregulatory authorities created by the European Commission, is currently addressing issues of broadband penetration. An ERG working group headed by the German regulatory authority has begunanempiricalstudyofdevelopments in the broadband access market. Assisted by national regulatory authorities,ithascollectedimportant data that allow initial conclusions to be drawn about the extent to which regulatory strategies and the availability of regulated access stimulate competition. Thestudybeginsbylookingatthecurrentstructuresintheindividualmemberstates.Whereasinothercountries cable provides a large number of broadband connections, the number of cable connections in Germany, compared to telephone network DSL connections, is very low. Of the 6.9 million broadband connections in Germany at the end of 2004, only 145,000 were by cable. The data shows that in many countries only intermodal competition triggered by cablehasthrowndownthegauntletto thetelephonecompanies. The study shows that a diversified rangeofaccessproductsboostscom- petitioninthebroadbandmarketcon- siderably. The ERG is currently discussingamodelbasedona'ladderof investment'. The ladder stands for a rangeofaccessproducts,thedifferent stages of an investment scenario for competitors. Thefirstrungoftheladderrepresents pure resale, while the next rung, bit stream access, leads to the fully unbundledlocalloop.Thetoprungis self-operatedinfrastructure. The broadband market is well advanced wherever many wholesale productsareavailableonmanyrungs of the ladder. This facilitates market entry, since entry is possible at any point. Access products, however, must be consistentlypricedsothatacompetitor entering lower down the ladder canmoreeasilyclimbtothenextrung. Provision should be made for migration paths facilitating the move from one rung to another. For example, competitors acquiring customers by way of resale should have access to consistently priced products such as bitstreamaccess. The ladder describes the various stages of the value chain which competitors can reach, step-by-step, successivelyreplacingwholesaleproducts they initially bought with their own infrastructure. When they have reachedthetoprungandpossessinfra- Promotingbroadband TheservicesenabledbyIPtechnology and next generation networks will onlybeavailabletouserswithbroadband connections, allowing them to usethewholespectrumofservicesin user-friendly quality and at user- Figure 1: The broadband market is well advanced wherever many wholesale products are available on many rungs of the ladder. 8
National development "The universal nature of the Internet allows activities to be moved to other countries, consequently preventing national regulatory authorities from intervening." structure, the regulation of wholesale productscanstarttoberolledback. At present, a host of detailed questions are being discussed. How can, forinstance,newaccessproductssuch as ‘standalone bit stream access’ that are being demanded be integrated meaningfully in the ladder of investmentHowcanconsistentpriceregulationbesecuredforthewholeofthe ladder What are the implications of theuseofIPtechnologyandnextgeneration networks for the existing PSTN(publicswitchedtelephonenetwork), particularly with regard to costsandhencepriceregulationgenerally Will there be a new interconnection regime with different cost allocation Finally, we do not know whether the current European regulatory frameworkwillbeabletoclarifytheseissues or whether, here too, modifications willprovenecessary. Competition The European telecoms regulators debatedthesequestionsatlengthata broadbandseminarinBledattheend of May. The national regulators will have to make their own assessments through studies of the broadband market,butthereisacommonunderstandingthatbroadbandpromotionis aconcernofallmemberstates. Looking at the ladder of investment situation in Germany, competition in thecentresofpopulationisalreadyon theupperrungs.Measuredbythefigures for full unbundling, Germany is leading the way. There are more unbundledlocallooprentalsherethan inalltheotherEUMemberStates. "To catch up with the leaders in Europe’s broadband markets, we will have to intensify competition." In the cities, competitors have much of their own infrastructure and thus, apartfromthelastmile,largelyhave no need for Deutsche Telekom AG's wholesale products. Outside these conurbations,thecompetitors,mainly resellers, are wholly reliant on DeutscheTelekom'sinfrastructure. Competitionthereisonamuchlower rung of the ladder and is much less prevalentthaninFrance,forinstance, as can be seen in the price of DSL access. Where competitors provide DSL access using unbundled local loopspricesarelowest,thatistosay, withalotoftheirowninfrastructure. To catch up with the leaders in Europe’s broadband markets, we will have to intensify competition. Regarding unbundled local loops, we have created a pro-competitive environment with our latest reduction in themonthlyrental. Whereintermodalcompetitionisconcerned,weexpect,byawardingspectrum for Fixed Wireless Access, WiMAX,etc.,toacceleratebroadband penetration outside conurbations throughwirelessaccess. Finally,themissingmiddlerungofthe ladder,bitstreamaccess,notyetavailable in Germany, may be a sensible addition to the range of wholesale products, particularly outside the conurbations. The French experience demonstrates that infrastructurebasedcompetitioninnowaysuffersas a result, while market penetration benefitsconsiderably. ThespreadofIP-basednetworksand servicesisaprocessthatmustbeoverseen and supported by regulatory authorities. Crucialforusertake-upiswhetherwe manage to make the new services secure,resistanttofraudandmisuse, and available to as wide a customer base as possible through the promotionofbroadband. This is the only way to maximise the markets' growth potential and boost theglobaleconomy.Doingsoisahuge challenge for the regulatory authorities,bothatnationalandinternationallevel,achallengethatcanbeovercomeonlybyjoiningforcesandacting together. www.connect-world.com VISIT the online version of The decision makers’ forum for ICT driven development. REVIEW past issues, upcoming events and our contributing authors from around the globe. SIGN UP to receive Connect-World e-Letter, a fortnightly selection of: the most important ICT events all over the world; the latest articles from some of the world’s top-level decision makers; what is coming in the next Connect-World issues. www.connect-world.com 9
Page 2 and 3: Broadband Mobility Welcome Aboard B
Page 4: T his issue of Connect-World EMEA (
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Page 9: Getting the good route won’t be h
Page 14: Regional communications to carry th
Page 18: IP networks IP provides a foundatio
Page 21 and 22: IP communications assurance Getting
Page 24 and 25: Broadband The broadband revolution:
Page 27 and 28: Broadband High-performance broadban
Page 29 and 30: Broadband "Today’s basic highcapa
Page 31 and 32: Broadband You are a decision maker
Page 33 and 34: mtcatheer-mtcatheer-mtcatheer-mtcat
Page 35 and 36: Triple play other technologies, a k
Page 37 and 38: Triple play "More and more, consume
Page 40 and 41: Triple play Enhancingtheenduser exp
Page 42 and 43: Africa’s most comprehensive RFID
Page 44 and 45: Designing Future Business Think for
Page 46: Mobile convergence minute. Enhanced
Page 49 and 50: Mobile value-added services Voice-b
Page 51 and 52: Mobile value-added services riers t
Page 54 and 55: Mobile telepnony claim there are no
Page 56 and 57: Mobile telephony What mobile teleph
Page 58 and 59: Mobile telephony the lowest tariffs
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Business communications their freed
Page 63 and 64:
Cultural development and the Intern
Page 65 and 66:
Service assurance Service assurance
Page 67 and 68:
Service assurance agesandofferacomp
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