Poland, the Czech Republic, Greece, and Belgium have the worst telecommunications regulators in Europe, according to a study carried out for the European Competitive Telecom Association (ECTA), an industry group that promotes the interests of new entrants into the market.The annual study, available on ECTA's Web site, compares the telecom regulatory environment and the application of the current legislative framework in 19 European countries. Top of the class were the U.K., the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and France."This year’s results show that countries where regulators have taken action to enable competition to flourish, including the UK, Netherlands and Scandinavian countries, have seen strong performance in their telecom markets. However, others including Poland, the Czech Republic and Greece have fallen behind," ECTA said in a statement.It added that "institutional weaknesses" may be preventing Germany, Belgium, and Finland from reaching their full potential.The study, dubbed the 2007 Scorecard, shows the impact of weak competition on consumers."If you are paying high prices for broadband, it may be because your regulator has not been able to open the market to competition," said Innocenzo Genna, chairman of ECTA, in prepared remarks at a conference in Brussels on Wednesday.ECTA supports the European Commission's plans to change telecom rules. In particular, it backs moves to allow regulators the power to break up an incumbent operator if it isn't giving rival service providers fair access to the infrastructure, such as the "local loop" of telephone lines that lead directly into people's homes and offices.Meanwhile, the Commission took Bulgaria to court on Wednesday for failing to police its telecom market "independently and effectively." Bulgaria joined the European Union at the beginning of this year, but it was supposed to have applied all the E.U.-wide rules concerning market access and fair competition in the telecom sector before its arrival.Viviane Reding, commissioner for telecom at the European Commission, attended the ECTA's conference in Brussels. In her keynote speech, she thanked ECTA for supporting the reforms she is trying to push through, but she warned that it will be a "hard fight" ensuring that the changes she has proposed get adopted.As well as proposing that functional separation should be introduced as a remedy to instill fair competition, she also called for the creation of an E.U.-wide telecom market authority to ensure that all national regulators apply the same rules in all markets. Functional separation calls for operators to set up separate units to manage and sell network services."We shall have to fight hard in the coming months to ensure that this vision of a competitive single market for the telecom sector becomes a reality. I count on your continuing support," Reding said.

The European Commission has signed off on two big technology mergers, approving SAP's acquisition of Business Objects and Vodafone's purchase of the Spanish and Italian subsidiaries of the Swedish telecom group Tele2.The Commission said it approved SAP's takeover of the BI software vendor Business Objects after concluding that the combined entity would not unfairly dominate the market."The combined SAP/Business Object entity would continue to face several strong competitors, and customers would find sufficient alternative suppliers of such software products," the Commission said.SAP sells primarily middleware and ERP applications and has just started getting into the BI market, while Business Objects is known for its business analytics software.The Commission said its investigation found no significant risk that the merged entity would be able to close off competitors from the market because SAP's middleware product, Netweaver, is an "open" platform that can work with BI products from multiple vendors.The Commission also gave the green light to Vodafone's expansion plans for the Spanish and Italian broadband Internet access markets, by approving its planned €775 million ($1.1 billion) acquisition of the Spanish and Italian subsidiaries of Tele2."The combined entity's share would be below 10 percent in those markets, and the incremental increase in the share of Vodafone would be small," the Commission said.In Italy and Spain, Vodafone is mainly active as a provider of mobile communications services and is the second largest mobile operator in both countries. Tele2 Italy and Tele2 Spain offer fixed-line telephony services and Internet access, including broadband."The parties' activities only overlap in the retail market for fixed broadband internet access and in the retail market for telephony services at a fixed location, both in Italy and in Spain," the Commission concluded.

Consumer and corporate use of the Internet could overload the current capacity and lead to brown-outs in two years unless backbone providers invest billions of dollars in new infrastructure, according to a study released Monday.A flood of new video and other Web content could overwhelm the Internet by 2010 unless backbone providers invest up to $137 billion in new capacity, more than double what service providers plan to invest, according to the study , by Nemertes Research Group, an independent analysis firm. In North America alone, backbone investments of $42 billion to $55 billion will be needed in the next three to five years to keep up with demand, Nemertes said.The study is the first to "apply Moore's Law (or something very like it) to the pace of application innovation on the 'Net," the study says. "Our findings indicate that although core fiber and switching/routing resources will scale nicely to support virtually any conceivable user demand, Internet access infrastructure, specifically in North America, will likely cease to be adequate for supporting demand within the next three to five years."The study confirms long-time concerns of the Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA), an advocacy group focused on upgrading U.S. broadband networks, said Bruce Mehlman, co-chairman of the group. The group, with members including AT&T, Level 3 Communications, Corning, Americans for Tax Reform, and the American Council of the Blind, has been warning people of the coming "exaflood" of video and other Web content that could clog its pipes.The study gives "good, hard, unique data" on the IIA concerns about network capacity, Mehlman said. The Nemertes study suggests demand for Web applications like streaming and interactive video, peer-to-peer file transfers, and music downloads will accelerate, creating a demand for more capacity. Close to three quarters of U.S. Internet users watched an average of 158 minutes of video in May and viewed more than 8.3 billion video streams, according to research from comScore, an analysis group.Internet users will create 161 exabytes of new data this year, and this exaflood is a positive development for Internet users and businesses, IIA says. An exabyte is 1 quintillion bytes or about 1.1 billion gigabytes. One exabyte is the equivalent of about 50,000 years of DVD-quality video.Carriers and policy makers need to be aware of this demand, Mehlman added."Video has unleased an explosion of Internet content," Mehlman said. "We think the exaflood is generally not well understood and its investment implications not well defined."The responsibility for keeping up with this growing demand lies with backbone providers and national policy makers, added Mehlman, also executive director of the Technology CEO Council, a trade group, and a former assistant secretary of technology policy in the U.S. Department of Commerce."It takes a digital village," he said. "Certainly, infrastructure providers have plenty to do. You've seen billions in investment, and you're seeing ongoing billions more."U.S. lawmakers can also help in several ways, he said. For example, the U.S. Congress could require that home contractors who receive government assistance for building affordable housing include broadband connections in their houses, he said. Congress could also provide tax credits to help broadband providers add more capacity, he said.Consumers also pay high taxes for telecommunication services, averaging about 13 percent on some telecom services, similar to the tax rate on tobacco and alcohol, Mehlman said. One tax on telecom service has remained in place since the 1898 Spanish-American War, when few U.S. residents had telephones, he noted."We think it's a mistake to treat telecom like a luxury and tax it like a sin," he said.

Huawei, the provider of next generation telecommunications network solutions for operators, has today announced the successful commercial launch of High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) network services across southern Italy for Telecom Italia. The network, which is billed to

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill designed to streamline VoIP providers' connections to emergency dialing 911 networks.The House late on Tuesday passed the 911 Modernization and Public Safety Act, which requires VoIP providers to offer enhanced 911, or E911, service, which pinpoints the caller's location.The bill also requires that the large telecom carriers that own the 911 networks allow VoIP providers to be able to connect to the networks, and it requires the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration to put together a plan for a national IP-based emergency dialing network that can handle video and data traffic.The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), a trade group representing telecom carriers and equipment providers, praised the House for passing the bill, sponsored by Rep. Bart Gordon, a Tennessee Democrat. The bill allows for a transition to a nationwide IP network "no matter what type of communications technology is being used," TIA president Grant Seiffert said in a statement.Gordon, during a September hearing, noted that about 98 million U.S. residents live in areas where VoIP providers don't have access to 911 networks. "When Americans dial 911, they expect the call will go through regardless of what technology they use to place the call," he said then. "But that's not always the case."Independent VoIP providers including Vonage have complained that some large carriers have blocked access to 911 networks, or that some emergency dispatch centers have balked because of concerns over legal liability if VoIP 911 calls fail. Vonage in April expressed support for a similar bill, the IP-Enabled Voice Communications and Public Safety Act, which is pending action in the U.S. Senate.The Gordon bill is a "very important piece of legislation," said Stephen Seitz, vice president of regulatory affairs for Vonage. E911 service "should be public trust and not a tool to thwart competition," he added.About 2 percent of Vonage's customers still lack access to E911 service, even though the U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted in May 2005 to require it from most VoIP providers. Those remaining customers without access to 911 service need this bill, Seitz said.Gordon's bill has also earned support from several organizations representing people with disabilities. The national IP network envisioned in the bill would allow text-based services to link with the voice-based emergency dialing network, the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology said in September.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation that would provide for more detailed measurements of broadband availability in the U.S., a move applauded by groups that say current statistics are inaccurate.The Broadband Census of America Act, approved by the House Tuesday, would require the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to collect information on the number of broadband subscribers in each postal ZIP code. It would also require the FCC to separate broadband service into speed tiers when it reports broadband availability in annual reports, instead of classifying everything above 200Kbps as broadband.The bill, along with similar legislation pending in the U.S. Senate, addresses long-time criticisms about the FCC's measurements. Currently, the FCC counts a ZIP code as served by broadband if just one residence has service, but critics say many ZIP codes are only partially served by broadband.In January, the FCC reported that broadband providers offered service in 99 percent of U.S. ZIP codes. The U.S. had 64.6 million broadband lines in mid-2006, up 24 percent from the end of 2005, according to the FCC.Critics, particularly Democrats in Congress and some consumer groups, have suggested that the statistics paint a rosier picture of broadband availability than actually exists. Representative Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat and chief sponsor of the Broadband Census of America Act, has also suggested that the FCC should classify broadband as connections of 2Mbps or faster.An FCC spokesman has noted that Chairman Kevin Martin launched an inquiry into the broadband measurement methods in April. The FCC has not yet completed its work in that inquiry.Markey's bill would require the FCC to create a national map of broadband availability and it provides money for states to contribute to the broadband map. The bill includes $20 million a year for three years for the broadband maps and $50 million in 2008 for states to conduct assessments of broadband demands. The amount of the assessment grants would rise to $125 million in 2010.The bill would also require the FCC to make international comparisons to the speed and price of broadband available in the U.S.The Telecommunications Industry Association, a trade group representing telecom carriers and equipment vendors, and Public Knowledge, a public interest group, both praised the House passage of the legislation."This bill is a vital building block to a more informed broadband policy," said Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge. "The FCC for too long has used antiquated measurements to give an unrealistic picture of which areas have access to needed broadband services and which do not."This story was updated on November 14, 2007

Continuous Computing?, global provider of integrated systems and services that enable telecom equipment manufacturers (TEMs) to rapidly deploy Next Generation Networks (NGN), today announced that seasoned technology industry veteran Brian Brown is joining the company as senior vice president of sales and field operations.

Eight public-interest and consumer groups have asked the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to reject requests by two large telecommunication providers to close off their copper voice and data networks to competitors in 10 U.S. cities.The groups, including the Consumer Federation of America, Public Knowledge, and the New America Foundation, sent a letter to the FCC Tuesday, saying attempts by Verizon and Qwest to end wholesale price controls on their copper networks would result in "significant rate increases." The two companies are among several telecom carriers that have filed so-called forbearance petitions with the FCC over the past two years.But there's not enough competition to justify the deregulation, the public-interest and consumer groups argued in their letter. Qwest and Verizon now have few broadband or voice competitors, they argued.The letter refers to a study, paid for by competitors of the two telecom giants, saying the average cost of household phone service in the six cities covered by the Verizon request would rise by $114 a year."Granting these forbearance petitions is likely to eliminate competitive voice and broadband services to the mass market of residential and small business customers," the groups said in the letter. "We urge you to reject these petitions and adhere to the current ... policy that has been shown to promote lower prices and greater investment in broadband services."Verizon's forbearance request would allow it to stop offering wholesale prices for its copper networks in Boston; New York City; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Providence; Rhode Island; and Virginia Beach, Va. The cities covered by the Qwest forbearance request are Denver, Phoenix, Seattle and Minneapolis, Minn.Verizon disputed the information in the letter. The prices Verizon charges for access to its copper networks are falling, said David Fish, a Verizon spokesman."It appears these organizations have been misled by the distortions of a few [telecom competitors]," Fish said. "Those six markets are extremely competitive, and prices have gone down, not up. Let's just say this letter is significantly fact-challenged."In a Nov. 7 filing with the FCC, Verizon said it has "extensive" competition from cable companies providing voice and data services, and from wireless voice carriers.But the letter from the consumer and public-interest groups said the two forbearance petitions could affect 17.6 million households in the United States. "Together, these petitions could eliminate competition and raise rates for broadband services for about 40 percent of all the homes in America," the letter said.Qwest did not immediately respond to an e-mail request for comment.

The European Commission unveiled its long-awaited review of the legal landscape for the telecom industry Tuesday, proposing a shakeup in the inefficient way radio spectrum is used in the 27 European Union countries, a new telecom authority for the whole E.U., and greater powers to punish former monopolies that don't compete fairly.The latest proposed changes come after a decade during which Europe's telecom markets have switched from being dominated by national monopolies to becoming more competitive. This process of liberalization that began in 1998 aimed to forge one giant market from all the national markets in the E.U.However, the former monopolies still exert too much control, especially in vital market sectors, such as access to broadband Internet services, said telecom Commissioner Viviane Reding at a news conference in Strasbourg Tuesday."Dominant telecoms operators, often still protected by government authorities, remain in control of critical market segments, especially of the broadband market," Reding said. She wants to grant the 27 national regulators the right to order incumbent operators to separate services operations from running of their infrastructures -- so-called functional separation.Separating the two is seen as a way to ensure rivals fair access to infrastructure, but in response to disapproval of this proposed legal tool from the incumbents, Reding stressed that the aim isn't to break up the companies."It's not the same thing as ownership unbundling," she said. Functional separation could only be used by the national regulators with the approval of the newly created European Telecom Market Authority (ETMA) she is planning to set up. "It's not a panacea, but a flexible measure that has worked in the U.K. and is already being considered in Sweden and Italy," she said.She plans a "New Deal" for radio spectrum to spur investment into new infrastructures and to ensure broadband access for everyone, she said.In rural areas of the E.U., 72 percent of the population on average have broadband access. The Commission wants to overcome this "digital divide" by better managing radio spectrum and by making spectrum available for wireless broadband services in regions where building a new fiber infrastructure is too costly.Existing rules for spectrum allocation date back to the 1950s and have to be changed, she said. "Too many countries are sitting on unused radio spectrum," she said, adding that the switch from analog to digital TV will free up a lot more spectrum.Broadcasters fear that all the available spectrum will be devoted to broadband Internet access, leaving too little for HDTV.However, Reding said it will be for national regulators to decide who gets the free spectrum. "Radio waves are the property of the member states; this won't change," she said. Some spectrum will need to be reserved specifically for cross-border services within the E.U., but for the most part, it will be up to national regulators to distribute spectrum.The ETMA will play an important role in making sure the new rules take effect across the E.U., Reding said. The idea of a supra-national authority modeled on the U.S. Federal Communications Commission has been attacked by some national regulators as well as by some officials in the European Commission for adding another layer of bureaucracy. But Reding insisted it is vital if the E.U. is ever to get a single, Union-wide telecom market."I'm not looking to create a one-size-fits-all answer; however, there are similar problems in the different countries and they should be dealt with in similar ways," she said.The ETMA will combine the responsibilities of the European Regulators Group (ERG) -- a body comprising the heads of all 27 national regulators -- with the role of ENISA, the European Network and Information Security Agency. "Unlike the ERG, this new group will be able to take decisions itself and act independently of national governments," she said.While obstacles to an efficient single market for telecom require further regulatory measures, many markets that have been under the spotlight during the past decade are now functioning properly and no longer need such close regulatory scrutiny, the Commission said.Monitoring of 10 sectors out of 17 initially under observation can now be stopped. The 10 are: National/local residential landline telephone services, international residential landline services, national/local business landline services, international business services from a landline, the minimum set of leased lines, transit services in the fixed telephone network, wholesale trunk segments of leased lines, access and call origination on mobile networks, international roaming on mobile networks, and broadcasting transmission.The Commission and national regulators will refocus efforts on the remaining markets where competition is not yet effective and where consumer benefits are still largely lacking. These sectors are access to the fixed telephone network, call origination on the fixed telephone network, call termination on individual fixed telephone networks, wholesale access to the local loop, wholesale broadband access, wholesale terminating segments of leased lines, and voice call termination on individual mobile networks.The Commission proposal will now be debated in the European Parliament and among the telecoms ministers of the 27 national governments. Reding said she is confident her reforms will be supported by the two lawmaking institutions and will become law in 2009.

Headquarters located in Amsterdam, offices in the US and the UK- My client is Europe's largest developer of software for handheld and mobile devices. To facilitate growth are now seeking to recruit a Project Manager,Software Development. Tasks & Responsibilities • Managing projects, needed to deliver traffic information and related services to the customer. • Projects can be internal as well as external. • Report to line management. • Actively participate in implementing, enforcing and improving processes and structure within the organisation, founding the basis for further growth. candidate: • At least 6 years relevant project management experience. • You will have a can-do attitude and be results driven. • Prince 2 certified. • Bachelor/Masters degree in an ICT related discipline or equivalent work experience. • Technical knowledge of ICT-infrastructures • Technical knowledge of mobile telecom networks is preferred • Manage the projects not only from a process point of view but also from a technical point of view. • Leadership experience, excellent interpersonal skills, ability to communicate to all levels within the company and are able to work in a highly adaptive, fast moving environment with a strong focus on high systems ability, scalability and overall service quality. • A good team player, highly self-motivated and have a high sense of responsibility. • Very good language skills in English, both spoken and written Abraxas plc acts as an employment agency/business. No terminology in this advert is intended to discriminate on the grounds of age, and we confirm that we will gladly accept applications from persons of any age for this role.

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