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EU telecom reform deal nears

Stuart O'Brien
EU telecom reform deal nears

Are we there yet? Last stumbling blocks removed, according to sources close to negotiations.

The European Parliament and the European Commission are a whisker away from agreeing a deal they hope will lead to greater competition in the EU's telecom markets and lower prices for consumers.

The European Parliament has already voted in favour of introducing pricing caps for cross-border mobile data usage from July this year.

Now sources close to negotiations say a deal has been reached that gives the EU power to overrule national regulators in the interests of competition, albeit slightly watered-down from the total veto the Commission had initially hoped for.

The reform has been pushed through by EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding and will see the creation of a new pan-European body of European regulators in electronic communications (BEREC).

Mobile operators have long maintained that the reform - particularly for roaming data pricing - will erode their margins and prevent future investment.

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Tags: eu , european commission , viviane reding