Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-05-17-Speech-3-267"
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"en.20000517.12.3-267"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I too would first like to extend my sincere thanks to Mr Alyssandrakis, the rapporteur, for his report on radio spectrum policy. The results of the auctions in third generation mobile phone frequencies, the ‘UMTS’ frequencies, that are currently taking place in several Member States, demonstrate just how important frequencies are, particularly as far as the economy is concerned. Mr Paasilinna and other speakers have already touched on this matter. In Great Britain, mobile phone operators were forced to pay a total of EUR 38.5 billion for frequencies. In Germany, proceeds from auctions are expected to total EUR 50 to 60 billion. This development has come as a complete surprise to everyone. The auctions were supposed to yield a tenth of the aforementioned figure. The market could have borne this quite satisfactorily.
Current developments on the auction front give cause for serious concern to my mind. The companies are being deprived of the financial basis they need to make investments in infrastructure and new innovations. In addition, the operators are unable to offer their customers inexpensive mobile access to the Internet. Yet it is precisely this that was recently thought could offer us the possibility to make up ground in the competition with the USA. What is more, some practices in the Member States – either auctions or ‘beauty contests’ that is – in respect of these billions, lead to distortion of competition in the internal market.
Certain governments are evidently prepared to jeopardise the development of the mobile phone sector, which is one of Europe’s industries of the future, for the sake of overhauling national budgets. Commissioner Liikanen, may I ask you quite openly, how the European Commission views this development? Do you think there is a need for action at European level? In principle, I believe auctions for commercial purposes to be an excellent alternative, let there be no mistake about that. But I sill feel that the way auctions for UMTS licences are shaping up gives us good cause to rethink the ‘pure doctrine’.
I have the following brief comments to make on the report itself: in my view, three priorities for revising radio spectrum policy have crystallised from the debate, which we also had in the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy. Mr Alyssandrakis also highlights them in the report. Firstly, the European institutions must be better represented at world radio conferences. Secondly, the Community must be allowed to express itself during negotiations within the CEPT, the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations that is, in such a way that better account is taken of Community interests where radio spectrum policy is concerned. Thirdly, the Commission must be able to demand that the Member States release the frequencies needed for the pan-European services and applications decided by the Council and Parliament, at an early stage and without hitches. Appropriate instructions should be drafted to this end."@en1
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