Conference Agenda

Regulating Electronic Communications – Putting the End-User First

A conference organized by the National Authority for Communications (ANC)

October 21^st, 2008, Bucharest

Registration, welcome coffee

9.00-9.30

Opening

Liviu Nistoran, President of the National Authority for Communications of Romania (ANC)

Constantin Teodorescu, Secretary of State, Ministry for Communications and Information Technology, Romania

9.30-10.00

First session

Unveiling the Future of Regulation in Europe – Better Protection for the End-User

Keynote speech:

Martin Selmayr, Spokesperson for Information Society and Media, European Commission

Panellists:

Levi Nietvelt, Economic Officer, The European Consumers Organisation (BEUC)

Danielle Jacobs, Member of the Board, INTUG (International Telecommunications Users Group), General Manager of BELTUG (the Belgian Telecommunications User Group)

Prof. Martin Cave, Director, Centre for Management under Regulation, Warwick Business School, UK

Hosted by:

Liviu Nistoran, ANC President, Romania

10.00-11.00

Paradoxically, after a decade of liberalization and market reform in Europe, consumer problems seem to have become more complex and sensitive than ever, from information transparency to roaming charges and from quality of service to security and privacy. The reform of the European Regulatory Framework for Telecoms is proposing new, stronger instruments to NRAs and market players, challenging them to better serve the consumer while keeping the market attractive for investment and innovation.

-    Are the companies a mere object of the Framework, while the end-user has been the real subject when designing it? Where do the business objectives meet end-users’ interests?

-    Have the consumer interests been underserved so far? How did the Framework perform in serving consumers in terms of service diversity, prices, quality and innovation?

-    Are consumer protection reforms necessary, particularly those aimed at more transparency, easier switching between operators, better quality of service and reinforced security and privacy?

-    What is the actual extent of the NRAs’ powers and what would be the ideal one? How far should NRAs intervene?

-    How much should data roaming prices be decreased by regulation?

A provocative question for a potential future reform: Is the European regulatory model based on the “Calling Party Pays” principle really working to the best interest of the end-user? Would switching to “bill and keep” be a better option?

Coffee break

11.00-11.30

Second session

Number Portability – More Freedom for the End-User

Keynote presentation – Launch of the Fixed and Mobile Number Portability service in Romania. Start of Number Portability media campaign

Liviu Nistoran, President of ANC, Romania

Roundtable:

Tour de table – Five minutes of anticipation: What will be the impact of Number Portability on Romanian consumers and operators?

Yorgos Ioannidis, CEO, Romtelecom, Romania

Dorin Odiatiu, Wholesale, International and Regulatory Affairs Director, Orange Romania

Valentin Popoviciu, Development Manager, RCS & RDS, Romania

Mihai Tarniceanu, Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs, Vodafone Romania

Stefanos Teocharopoulos, CEO, Cosmote, Romania

Chris Bataillard, CEO, Telemobil Romania

Severina Craiciu, CFO, UPC Romania

Portability facts and experiences – NRAs’ perspective:

Reinaldo Rodríguez Illera, Chairman, Comision del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones (CMT), Spain

Daphne Braal-Verhoog, Head of Consumer Protection and Numbers, The Regulatory Authority of the Netherlands (?PTA)

Pekka Sillanmäki, Senior Adviser, Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority (FICORA)

…and users’ perspective:

Danielle Jacobs, Member of the Board, INTUG (International Telecommunications Users Group), General Manager of BELTUG (the Belgian Telecommunications User Group)

11.30-13.45

Number portability is a long awaited measure, which aims at removing an important barrier to competition in the telecom sector.

-    What is the stage of number portability implementation across Europe?

-    Has the impact of number portability been close to the one envisaged when the measure was introduced? What factors drive the success of number portability? How have NRAs and operators managed the consumer perception of number portability?

-    How does portability affect consumer behaviour and how has it changed the business model of telecom operators? Is number portability a threat or an opportunity for the operators?

What was the contribution of number portability in strengthening competition? Did it have any impact on prices?

Lunch

13.45-14.45

Third session

Transparency and Information – More Power to the End-User

Keynote presentation:

Dr. Patrick Xavier, Faculty of Business, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia

Panellists:

Alex Chisholm, Commissioner, Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), Ireland

Willy Jensen, Director General, Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority (NPT)

Marianne Treschow, Director General, Swedish Post and Telecom Agency (PTS)

Dr. Dieter Staudacher, Senior Advisor International Affairs, Regulatory Authority for Broadcasting and Telecommunications (RTR), Austria

Hosted by:

Alexandrina Hirtan, Vice-President, ANC, Romania

14.45-17.00

Improving transparency and awareness empowers consumers, enabling them to better protect their interests in relation with the telecom service providers.

The ERG is currently looking into a number of end-user transparency issues – particularly the difficulty of comparing offers, accessing information, controlling spend and post-contract tariff changes. Many reasons stay behind these issues: increased tariff complexity, service bundling, lack of billing control tools, manner of publication of information on tariffs and other terms and conditions, manner in which end-users are informed about post-contract tariff changes. The ERG will explore ways to achieve a more coherent approach to these issues, by identifying best practices in countries which have taken steps to improve end-user transparency.

At the same time, the Framework Review has proposed strengthened transparency provisions. The NRAs would be offered instruments to ask the operators for better transparency and to provide interactive guides enabling end-users to make independent price comparisons, when these are not available on the market.

-    What is the nature and magnitude of the consumer transparency problems? Is there an asymmetry of information between providers and end-users? How does this affect consumer welfare?

-    What steps have been taken by NRAs to improve end-user transparency and awareness and what were the outcomes?

What were the experiences with introducing interactive price guides, allowing consumers to make independent evaluations of the cost of alternative usage patterns? How did consumers and market players react to such interactive guides? What was their impact on prices and competition?

Closing of the conference

Alexandrina Hirtan, Vice-President, ANC, Romania

17.00

Registration, welcome coffee			9.00-9.30
Opening	Liviu Nistoran, President of the National Authority for Communications of Romania (ANC) Constantin Teodorescu, Secretary of State, Ministry for Communications and Information Technology, Romania		9.30-10.00
First session	*Unveiling the Future of Regulation in Europe – Better Protection for the End-User* Keynote speech: Martin Selmayr, Spokesperson for Information Society and Media, European Commission Panellists: Levi Nietvelt, Economic Officer, The European Consumers Organisation (BEUC) Danielle Jacobs, Member of the Board, INTUG (International Telecommunications Users Group), General Manager of BELTUG (the Belgian Telecommunications User Group) Prof. Martin Cave, Director, Centre for Management under Regulation, Warwick Business School, UK Hosted by: Liviu Nistoran, ANC President, Romania		10.00-11.00
	Paradoxically, after a decade of liberalization and market reform in Europe, consumer problems seem to have become more complex and sensitive than ever, from information transparency to roaming charges and from quality of service to security and privacy. The reform of the European Regulatory Framework for Telecoms is proposing new, stronger instruments to NRAs and market players, challenging them to better serve the consumer while keeping the market attractive for investment and innovation. - Are the companies a mere object of the Framework, while the end-user has been the real subject when designing it? Where do the business objectives meet end-users’ interests? - Have the consumer interests been underserved so far? How did the Framework perform in serving consumers in terms of service diversity, prices, quality and innovation? - Are consumer protection reforms necessary, particularly those aimed at more transparency, easier switching between operators, better quality of service and reinforced security and privacy? - What is the actual extent of the NRAs’ powers and what would be the ideal one? How far should NRAs intervene? - How much should data roaming prices be decreased by regulation? A provocative question for a potential future reform: Is the European regulatory model based on the “Calling Party Pays” principle really working to the best interest of the end-user? Would switching to “bill and keep” be a better option?
Coffee break			11.00-11.30
Second session	*Number Portability – More Freedom for the End-User* Keynote presentation – Launch of the Fixed and Mobile Number Portability service in Romania. Start of Number Portability media campaign Liviu Nistoran, President of ANC, Romania Roundtable: Tour de table – Five minutes of anticipation: What will be the impact of Number Portability on Romanian consumers and operators? Yorgos Ioannidis, CEO, Romtelecom, Romania Dorin Odiatiu, Wholesale, International and Regulatory Affairs Director, Orange Romania Valentin Popoviciu, Development Manager, RCS & RDS, Romania Mihai Tarniceanu, Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs, Vodafone Romania Stefanos Teocharopoulos, CEO, Cosmote, Romania Chris Bataillard, CEO, Telemobil Romania Severina Craiciu, CFO, UPC Romania Portability facts and experiences – NRAs’ perspective: Reinaldo Rodríguez Illera, Chairman, Comision del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones (CMT), Spain Daphne Braal-Verhoog, Head of Consumer Protection and Numbers, The Regulatory Authority of the Netherlands (?PTA) Pekka Sillanmäki, Senior Adviser, Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority (FICORA) …and users’ perspective: Danielle Jacobs, Member of the Board, INTUG (International Telecommunications Users Group), General Manager of BELTUG (the Belgian Telecommunications User Group)		11.30-13.45
	Number portability is a long awaited measure, which aims at removing an important barrier to competition in the telecom sector. - What is the stage of number portability implementation across Europe? - Has the impact of number portability been close to the one envisaged when the measure was introduced? What factors drive the success of number portability? How have NRAs and operators managed the consumer perception of number portability? - How does portability affect consumer behaviour and how has it changed the business model of telecom operators? Is number portability a threat or an opportunity for the operators? What was the contribution of number portability in strengthening competition? Did it have any impact on prices?
Lunch			13.45-14.45
Third session		*Transparency and Information – More Power to the End-User* Keynote presentation: Dr. Patrick Xavier, Faculty of Business, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia Panellists: Alex Chisholm, Commissioner, Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), Ireland Willy Jensen, Director General, Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority (NPT) Marianne Treschow, Director General, Swedish Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) Dr. Dieter Staudacher, Senior Advisor International Affairs, Regulatory Authority for Broadcasting and Telecommunications (RTR), Austria Hosted by: Alexandrina Hirtan, Vice-President, ANC, Romania	14.45-17.00
		Improving transparency and awareness empowers consumers, enabling them to better protect their interests in relation with the telecom service providers. The ERG is currently looking into a number of end-user transparency issues – particularly the difficulty of comparing offers, accessing information, controlling spend and post-contract tariff changes. Many reasons stay behind these issues: increased tariff complexity, service bundling, lack of billing control tools, manner of publication of information on tariffs and other terms and conditions, manner in which end-users are informed about post-contract tariff changes. The ERG will explore ways to achieve a more coherent approach to these issues, by identifying best practices in countries which have taken steps to improve end-user transparency. At the same time, the Framework Review has proposed strengthened transparency provisions. The NRAs would be offered instruments to ask the operators for better transparency and to provide interactive guides enabling end-users to make independent price comparisons, when these are not available on the market. - What is the nature and magnitude of the consumer transparency problems? Is there an asymmetry of information between providers and end-users? How does this affect consumer welfare? - What steps have been taken by NRAs to improve end-user transparency and awareness and what were the outcomes? What were the experiences with introducing interactive price guides, allowing consumers to make independent evaluations of the cost of alternative usage patterns? How did consumers and market players react to such interactive guides? What was their impact on prices and competition?
Closing of the conference		Alexandrina Hirtan, Vice-President, ANC, Romania	17.00