The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation over the Finnish telecoms regulator's (Ficora) proposal for the new rules on mobile termination rates (MTRs). If adopted, the new rates in Finland would not be based on costs as would be incurred by an efficient operator as set out in the EU recommended approach for the calculation of MTRs. They would also be more than 25% higher than the EU average MTRs which follow the recommended approach. According to the Commission the Finnish proposal could harm competition and consumers, as the MTRs can comprise inefficient cost that would be passed on to consumers in Finland and in other Member States (when calling Finnish numbers). The Commission now has three months to discuss the case with Ficora, in close cooperation with the body of European regulators (BEREC), to make it compliant with EU law. During this period, Ficora may not adopt the proposed measures. At the end of the investigation period, the Commission may either lift its reservations or demand that Ficora withdraws or amends the proposed measure. The Commission has previously issued similar decisions concerning the proposals of other national regulators.
Background
Termination rates are the rates telecoms networks charge each other to deliver calls between networks, and each operator has market power over access to customers on its own network. These costs are ultimately included in call prices to the detriment of consumers and business.
Ficora proposed to allow Finnish mobile operators to recover, in the regulated MTRs, also other costs than strictly related to the incremental costs of provision of the wholesale termination services (e.g. joint and common costs which cannot be assigned to any particular product or service). This leads to significantly higher MTRs than could have been set by Ficora. The Commission has in the past consistently requested national regulatory authorities to amend their proposals in line with the EU rules.
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