EC telecom proposals 'could undermine Ofcom'

Changes which are being made to European telecoms regulations could undermine the work done by Ofcom, the watchdog claims.

A new set of guidelines which could affect both traditional telecoms firms and VoIP providers is set to be unveiled by the European Commission (EC) which will give them more of a stronghold within the industry.

Experts say that one change which could be implemented when the new rules com in is that the commission will be able to veto decisions made by national watchdogs.

There are also suggestions that the EC plans to introduce a Europe-wide regulator which will advise it on decisions to make regarding telecoms across the continent.

Writing in the Financial Times, Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards, said: "The harmonisation of regulation across Europe works only when it respects the freedom of independent national regulators to respond to conditions in their own markets."

He added that he changes will need to "strike the right balance between promoting consistency and harmonisation in European regulation and the need to reflect different conditions in national markets".

Recent figures show a widening gap between EU countries with regards to broadband access, with Denmark ranking the highest with 37.2 per cent compared to Romania at 6.6 per cent.