Swedish regulator the PTS has proposed that incumbent TeliaSonera will continue to have an obligation to provide termination capacity connections to wholesale customers, with wholesale access prices to be based on non-discriminatory terms. The PTS submitted its proposals via a European Union (EU) consultation, with the European Commission (EC) and fellow EU regulators permitted to submit comments on proposals within one month. A final decision is expected to be taken by the PTS ‘before the summer.’
Additionally, the PTS issued a decision that there is no reason to introduce specific regulatory controls on the wholesale dark fibre connection sector. The regulator conducted a survey of demand for and supply of dark fibre lines, including mobile base station backhaul, to examine whether there were any competition problems to justify regulation of this specific market. It concluded that there is a market situation where wholesale customers can get access to dark fibre connections, in many places, from several suppliers, and that pricing practices appear to be ‘reasonable’. The PTS will continue to monitor the market and make a new assessment within three years.
The PTS also announced that it has decided on two new strategic objectives for 2013-2015. Firstly, the authority shall focus on ‘creating better conditions for quality assured, reliable and robust electronic communications services, and continue to work to ensure that market players strengthen the ability to manage serious [network] breakdowns’. In addition, it will develop a strategy ‘for managing radio spectrum and put the strategy into concrete actions that will aim to maximise the social benefits of spectrum use.’