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EU: Member states give EU new reason for single telecom market

By  |  July 23, 2013

Disorganized and delayed spectrum delivery by EU member states have given the European Commission a new reason to promote its agenda of developing a single European telecommunications market. According to reports, the Commission granted Tuesday nine of its member states a postponement of using 800 MHz band for wireless broadband, the regulator announced. According to the watchdog, the delays support the need for a single market, stating that “every delay in releasing spectrum hurts our economy frustrates citizens” and that “spectrum reform will be a centerpiece of the Commission’s September proposal for a telecoms single market.” The nine states – Spain, Cyprus, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Austria, Poland, Romania and Finland, were nine of 14 that requested the postponement. The deadline to distribute the 4G mobile spectrum was January 1. According to reports, the delay renders many mobile phones useless within Europe as the radio chips necessary to connect in the EU are not included in manufactured phones because too few states have licensed the same spectrum.

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