Europe - Structural Separation - Measuring its Success in 2008

Synopsis

Archived report: this report was archived in March 2010 and has not been updated.

During the last two years, far-reaching regulatory reforms have been implemented by a number of countries in Europe to alter the fundamental structures of telco incumbents. The process, begun with British Telecom, has since been adapted by progressive regulators to meet individual market conditions. In practice, reforms have resulted in successful operational or functional separation, but the simple end-game has remained the same: providing regulatory clarity to promote competition, broadband take-up and sector investment. These elements are crucial to protect the long-term interests of modern economies competing for labour and investment, and preparing for the myriad of present and future IP-delivered services. This report measured the success of structural separation up to 2008 from a range of perspectives.

Table of Contents

• 1. Synopsis
• 2. Measuring the success of structural separation
• 3. Different approaches
• 4. The regulator
• 5. The incumbent
• 6. The consumer
• 7. The national interest
• 8. Related reports

• Table 1 – UK - proportion of unbundled exchanges and connections; LLU lines – 2005 - 2008
• Table 2 – BT financial data – 2006 - 2008