MuniWireless

The European Union is one step closer to expanding the wireless frequencies that cellular operators can use for mobile broadband service. The Council of Ministers has approved an amendment to the GSM Directive of 1987. That directive had reserved part of the 900 MHz spectrum for GSM services. The current amendment allows the carriers to use the 900 MHz frequency band for 3G and more advanced cellular technologies to provide pan-European mobile broadband services. The renewed Directive will enter into force…

Europeans going on holiday this summer will get a very pleasant surprise: lower roaming charges. Viviane Reding, EU telecoms commissioner, is happy to announce that that roaming rip-off is now coming to an end.

Beginning 1 July 2009, the new roaming charges are:

To prevent “bill shocks”, once a customer’s bill reaches 50 EUR, the customer will be warned…

European countries are now actively discussing the impact of the new generation of broadband networks to be put in place for the next decade. Last week, the European Commission issued a set of revised proposals for the regulation of Next Generation Access (NGA) broadband networks, in the form of a draft Commission Recommendation. This draft is put on public consultation for proposals and commentaries. The public consultation ends on 24 July 2009.

Telecom Commissioner Viviane Reding said: “High speed fiber networks…

The European Commission has praised the steps being taken by French regulator, ARCEP (Autorité de Régulation des Communications Electroniques et des Postes), to stop the great European mobile phone rip-off. ARCEP wants to lower the wholesale rates charged by French mobile operators to the costs of an efficient operator. ARCEP says it wants to eliminate price distortions between phone operators in France and to lower the prices that people pay for mobile phone calls.

Viviane Reding, European Commissioner, says:

“I strongly welcome…

The European Commission and deputies of the European Parliament have been discussing amendments to the Telecom Package recently and one of the amendments to the original text is Amendment 138 on the right of end users charged with content piracy to a full and fair judicial review: “No restriction may be imposed on the fundamental rights and freedoms of end users without a prior ruling of the judicial authorities, notably in accordance with Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental…

Last week, in a series of votes, the European Parliament adopted an amended legislative proposal called the Telecom Package. Originally prepared by Viviane Reding, head of the European Commission for Information Society, the initial text consisted of a set of propositions designed to revise the existing Regulatory Framework for Telecommunications (originally enacted in 2002).

The initial propositions tailored by the Commission have been actively debated and a final report was steered through the European Parliament by Malcom Harbour, an English deputy.…