BT kept waiting on lines to Europe's free market
THE MONDAY INTERVIEW; Sir Iain Vallance, chairman of BT, and Michel Bon, president of France Telecom, stake their claims to reign supreme in the expanding European telecommunications market. Each scents victory, but can they both win?
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.There is an air of scepticism whenever Sir Iain Vallance is asked about European liberalisation. Keen as the British Telecom chairman is to embrace the market, the changes he wants implemented have been a long time coming, in spite of the rhetoric in Brussels and worthy words from governments in member states.
BT takes every opportunity to bang the drum for a more open market in Europe. This, he believes, is one of the consolation prizes for being exposed at an early stage to the cold winds of competition on its home ground, even if the telecommunications giant still dominates the UK market.
"The Commission has got the bit between their teeth and that opens up potential opportunities for BT. We have already gone through the 'painful adolescence' of passing from state ownership to private ownership and of liberalisation in the marketplace. We are all set and ready to go."
But according to Sir Iain, no one really knows when competition will really happen. Full competition right across the board, with genuine choice and the level of maturity seen in the UK market, could take 10 years, he said.
The problem from BT's point of view is not so much the introduction of directives on which competition will be based, but the length of time it can take directives to be implemented in national law. Even then, as Sir Iain observes: "They are not necessarily observed."
He added: "In spite of good words about hitting the tarmac with the wheels running there will be some dragging of feet. But directionally it is right - the Commission in Brussels wants it and customers want it.
Some countries interpret directives very narrowly in their own law; others over-interpret. Asked whether the UK falls into the category of the over- zealous, he admits: "In our line of business that is my experience."
Sir Iain's view is that the competition directorate charged with making things happen has its heart in the right place but not enough resources in enforcement terms. "A key to getting a move on is strengthening of the enforcement arm in enforcement of directives. I am happy with the directives coming up. All the right items are on the agenda. Our concern is not the agenda; it is getting it into national law and getting it enforced. That requires a will and a determination."
He believes that BT and the Government at least are "shoulder to shoulder" in this drive for liberalisation, and that any future Labour administration would also take the same line. In spite of differences between the two parties on Euro-issues. Sir Iain points out: "This is Treaty of Rome stuff. It predates Maastricht."
From BT's position, it has not only a lot to gain from the ability to compete freely across the continent, it has a lot to give in terms of lessons learnt.
The consensus is that other member states have barely begun to tackle the thorny issue of regulation. Without that there is little point in having an open marketplace, which would be all too easy for dominant players to abuse.
"We need regulation which is independent of government. That is extremely important and it is very difficult to achieve while some public telephone operators are state-owned," Sir Iain said.
"We need a proper licensing procedure and interconnection terms. If we had the same interconnection terms across Europe as we have here in the UK we would be laughing. We are not asking for anything pro-competitive. The best we can hope for is something that is not anti-competitive."
He went on: "There are no signs yet of any country in Europe or indeed anywhere else which would lean over so far to encourage competitors as we do in the UK."
Sir Iain rejects the notion that Europe needs a large and powerful new body along the lines of the UK's own watchdog, Oftel. Unsurprisingly, he warns against detailed interference in the day-to-day business of the industry - a tendency of which BT accuses Oftel and constantly rails against.
Sir Iain believes that a Euro Oftel is not necessary. "The main interest of the Commission should be deregulation. That is where the supremacy of Brussels over national governments is an imperative.
"Beyond that we need general terms and principles laid down as guidelines What we must avoid is over-regulation of the detail. Otherwise you get distortion if you get significant differences in regulation in different member states."
The main global telecoms alliances
Name: Phoenix
Partners: Sprint (US long distance operator); France Telecom;
Deutsche Telekom
Status: The two European telcos are still awaiting EC approval for their
joint venture, Atlas, the prime vehicle for the two companies'
business services. Atlas is to join with Sprint to form Phoenix.
Name: Uniworld
Partners: AT&T (US telecoms giant); Unisource (joint venture between
the telcos of Spain, Switzerland, Netherlands and Sweden)
Status: Unisource is still awaiting EC approval. Subsequent link to
AT&T subject to regulatory review on both sides of the Atlantic.
Name: Concert
Partners: MCI (US long-distance operator); BT
Status: Up and running. Package of services for business customers is
distributed in Europe through various equity partnerships, joint
ventures and alliances in several countries.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments