Communications Regulatory Authority

the information on the prices of international roaming calls (such as the creation of
national informational websites 13 and the verification of the possibility of imposing on
national operators the obligation of information by means of SMS text messages) and
provides for a monitoring activity, for 2006, on the actual implementation of the
measures suggested.
In general terms, the ERG has worked in close collaboration with the European
Commission in the drafting of a common strategy aiming to achieve a decrease in the
prices of end services. Furthermore, after the initiative undertaken by the Commission,
in February 2006 it took part in the two public consultation phases and is actively
following the regulatory procedure to define a regulation on the subject, pursuant to
Article 95 of the EU Treaty.
At the end of 2005, with the Call for Input made during the month of November,
the European Commission started the process of revising the European regulatory
framework on electronic communications networks and services, with the objective of
verifying their adequacy, compared to the evolution of the technological and market
context, and to identify any corrective measures, in terms of objectives, instruments,
and procedures. All the national Authorities participating in the ERG decided to draft a
joint decision, with the objective of enhancing the experience acquired at the national
level during the first phase of application of the European regulations. The ERG
reported the overall adequacy of the current framework for dealing with the regulatory
needs that will arise in the coming years, and the advisability of limiting the revision to
a few details, guaranteeing the stability of the regulatory context and protecting the
investment plans. Among the suggested adjustments are the following:
• the application of the principle of technological neutrality to the discipline of
new-generation networks;
• the streamlining of the European notification procedures;
• the introduction of regulatory instruments capable of dealing with the
competition problems resulting from the ongoing vertical and horizontal
integration processes;
• the achievement of a revision of the provisions concerning management of
the spectrum;
• the focusing of greater attention on consumer protection.
The Commission’s initiative is the first step of a process that is presumably
bound to end at the end of 2007; the reform of the European regulatory framework will
thus be a priority theme for the ERG, both for the current year and for 2007.
Lastly, worthy of mention is the appointment of AGCOM to the Presidency of
the ERG for the year 2007. This is an office of particular international prestige, which
13 On the model of that already created by the Commission in the month of October 2005. The URL of
Commission’s web page is: http://europa.eu.int/information_society/activities/roaming/index_en.htm.
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