International Meetings
1. Telecentre Europe General Assembly: Our Senior Manager, Information Society Services, attended the Telecentre Europe Annual Summit that was held in Paris. Telecentre Europe is a cooperation network between various European organisations that operate ICT learning centres in the community. The MCA participates in various Telecentre coordinated initiatives including the GetOnlineWeek event and the EU-funded, UniteIT project.
2. 2nd European Postal Regulation Forum: E-commerce has become one of the most important business pillars for the postal sector. However, there is a lot of competition in the market and postal operators have to make considerable efforts to be successful. For postal operators the situation seems to be particularly tough, with fast moving competitors on the one side and the fact of being a regulated industry on the other side. This 2nd European Postal Regulation Forum attended by our legal advisor sought to identify and lay out the main regulatory and policy challenges in postal and delivery services and addressed the following questions.
- What are the challenges in e-commerce and how do they affect postal and delivery services?
- Can regulation keep up with markets and communication behaviour changes?
- How can European posts become a key driver in the growth of e-commerce?
- How can regulators or the European Commission become a key enabler?
3. Communications Committee (COCOM): The Chief of Policy and Planning attended the 53rd COCOM meeting held in Brussels. Topics discussed included issues related to the European emergency number ‘112’, digital broadcasting and the draft Commission recommendation on Universal Service. In addition, the Commission also gave a presentation of the latest broadband report for the first half of 2012.
4. Radio Spectrum Policy Group: Our Chief Technology Officer and Manager, Policy and Strategy attended the 30th meeting of the Radio Spectrum Policy Group. The main focus of the discussion was on the progress of the respective RSPG working groups on wireless broadband, shared use of spectrum, sectorial spectrum needs and preparation for WRC-15. Vice-President Neelie Kroes also delivered a speech on the role of spectrum for wireless broadband in the context of Europe 2020.
5. BEREC working group on remedies monitoring: Our Manager, Economic and Financial Analysis and Senior Market Analyst, attended two joint meetings, comprising of the BEREC Regulatory Accounting and the Market Remedies expert working groups, in Brussels. These meeting were aimed at drafting the official BEREC opinion on the Commission’s Recommendation on consistent non-discrimination obligations and costing methodologies of broadband networks. The BEREC opinion is expected to be adopted in an upcoming Plenary meeting.
6. Our Chief of External Relations and Senior Technical specialst attended a conference on Fibre-to-the-home whilst our Chief Financial Office and Procurement Officer attended a practitioners seminar on European public procurement rules, policy and practice.
Publications
1. Local Dedicated Capacity; pricing of leased lines and Ethernet connections Consultation: The MCA has published a consultation on the pricing of leased lines and ethernet connections in which a new pricing structure has been proposed. Interested parties are invited to submit their feedback by no later than close of business on 10th April 2013. See http://www.mca.org.mt/service-providers/consultations/local-dedicated-capacity-pricing-leased-lines-and-ethernet
2. Tender for the provision of market research services: The MCA published a summary of tenders received which can be viewed here. http://www.mca.org.mt/content/provision-market-research-services-malta-communications-authority
Legal Update:
- During the last sitting on 12 February 2013 of Hal-Lija Local Council, Professor Peter Xuereb, Angela Xuereb, Raymond Attard, Catrina Attard, Victor Buttigieg, Rose Marie Buttigieg, Patrick Vassallo and Catherine Vassallo vs Rosanne Galea and John David Galea, Melita plc (C-12715) and MCA Lawsuit, Judge Zammit Mckeon requested the legal representative of the plaintiffs to meet informally with Melita plc to find a solution with regard to increasing the height of the antenna as was advised by the Court’s expert Architect Valerio Schembri and the recurring issues which will result with regard to the tilting of the antenna if the antenna’s height is increased. The two parties met on 18 February 2013 and the next sitting is scheduled for 26 March 2013 to determine if a solution has been established.
- At the sitting for the Sesco vs. MCA lawsuit, the MCA cross-examined the plaintiff. The next sitting is to take place on 12 June 2013, during which the MCA will present its witness Owen Darmanin to explain why the service offered by Sesco requires a general authorisation.