The best practices in terms of price ceilings for leased line part circuits were disclosed in a Recommendation of the European Commission published on 29 March 2005.
Regarding the current disparity in pricing and the consequent distortions operated in the market, the Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding considers that prices for the provision of leased lines should reflect the real cost of supplying them, aiming at offering a real competitive environment in the internal market and at developing the electronic communications services of the Union.
The Recommendation provides that national regulatory authorities (NRA) should ensure that the prices associated with the provision of a leased line part circuit reflect only the costs of the underlying network elements and the services being requested, including a reasonable rate of return. Moreover, it is incumbent upon the NRA to ensure the respect for any of the price ceilings listed in Annex I of the Recommendation, unless there is reliable evidence that the recommended ceiling would result in a price level below the efficient costs of the underlying network elements and the services being requested. NRA should use their rights under Article 13 of the Access Directive (Directive 2002/19/EC, of 7 March 2002) to request full justification of the proposed charges, and if appropriate, to require these charges to be adjusted.
A Recommendation regarding the provision of leased lines in the European Union, with the major supply conditions for wholesale leased lines, was published on 21 January 2005, the contents of which complement those of the Recommendation now being published.
Consult:
- Recommendation 2005/57/EC https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=253719
- Recommendation 2005/268/EC https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=264533
Further information:
- Press CE uk - High-speed network connections: Commission recommends leased line price ceilings http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/05/365&format=HTML&aged=0&language=en&guiLanguage=en
Related information on ANACOM's website:
- Recommendation on the Provision of Leased Lines https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=253724
- Electronic communications - market analysis https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=124219
