The European Commission unveiled plans Thursday that would force telecommunications providers to share broadband infrastructure with rivals and unify regulations in the sector.
Viviane Reding, the European Union commissioner in charge of the EU’s telecommunications policy, said the rules would encourage competition.
“We must open the markets when they are dominated by dominant players,” she told reporters. “We have seen in all our analysis, where the markets are opened, investments are done and prices go down for consumers.”
Many countries are dragging their heels in applying EU orders to open up their markets to competition, allowing historic telephone monopolies to remain dominant players with the power to determine who can access their networks.
