“Serious doubts letter” issued by EC for Estonian Competition Authority’s mobile termination rates plan

The European Commission has issued a serious doubts letter over the Estonian Competition Authority’s proposal that would allow Estonia to charge high mobile termination rates (MTRs) for the next three years. MTRs, which are the rates mobile networks charge other networks for delivering voice calls, would be priced at three times the cost-efficient rate prescribed under the 2009 Termination Rates Recommendation.

The Commission’s concerns center around lasting consumer harm from the high MTRs, as well as the threatened disruption to the EU single telecoms market. Not only would the MTRs under the plan be some of the highest in the European Union, the proposal also calls for ceasing notification to the European Commission of subsequent MTRs after the middle of 2013. In its Press Release, the Commission observed that the Estonian Competition Authority “failed to explain how the chosen approach would promote efficiency, enhance competition and maximise consumer benefit.”

Full content: EC Press Release

Related content: The International Competition Community at Work (Paul Lugard, Royal Philips Electronics, Tilburg Law and Economics Centre)

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