French protest over EU super regulator plan

The high-profile EU telecoms commissioner, Viviane Reding, has annoyed the French telecoms regulator enough for him to go public in his opposition to a EU-wide 'super regulator'. Interviewed by the French daily Les Echos, Paul Champsaur, head of French telecoms regulator ARCEP, said the plan sent a message to the telecoms industry that the EU wants more regulation, rather than less. "It would be burdensome and costly," he said.

Champsaur said the best way to make progress was for the existing European Regulators Group (ERG), an informal body made up of national telecoms regulators, to become a formal body that could even take decisions by qualified majority. Handing control over to a central authority could see regional regulators legislated out of existence, but it could also let the EU ethos drive frequency allocations--such as Reding's preference for reserving frequency for DVB-H broadcasts despite the unproven technology or market.

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