A recent announcement by Mario Lino, the Portuguese Public Works Minister, regarding plans to launch a European Union (EU) telecoms regulator during Portugal’s tenure of the EU presidency has thrown a spanner in the works for many national regulators and telecoms operators.
The current EU commissioner in charge of Information Society, Viviane Reding, has been vocal recently about the need for more harmonisation to ensure consistency in the implementation of EU directives and frameworks at a national level. Not surprisingly, Reding is a strong proponent of increased powers for the EU and favours the creation of an EU-wide telecoms regulator to ensure the development of a single market.
