While the European Parliament is to ratify, on 24 November in Strasbourg, the compromise finally reached with the Council on the reform of European telecoms rules (‘telecoms package’), the former chairman of the RSPG (Radio Spectrum Policy Group), the European regulators’ group responsible for radiofrequencies, is returning to the challenges of the sector. Also the former chairman of the European Regulators Group (ERG), Dániel Pataki, has played a key role in these negotiations. Now president of the Hungarian regulator, he remains vice-president of the two European groups.

What do you think of the compromise that has been reached on rights of access to the internet, until now the bone of contention between MEPs and telecoms ministers?

I genuinely welcome this agreement on individual rights. It was high time. We have no more time to lose. I now hope that the transposition period for the directives will be short, no longer than 18 months.

Has the one-year blockade of the telecoms package had an effect on the market?

It went rather well, actually. The ERG and the RSPG focused on their capacity to issue opinions, on roaming [the cost of cross-border mobile phone calls - Ed], mobile termination tariffs and the ‘digital dividend’ [the frequencies freed up by the switch from analogue to digital TV - Ed]. There was no significant damage during the delay. We now have a good package.

Will these reforms be likely to make up for the poor high-speed internet coverage of rural areas in Europe?

The digital dividend has two objectives: to offer cheaper technologies with greater coverage and to launch new generations of mobile technologies, such as high-speed mobile internet. It is all a question of competition, between different technologies, such as fixed lines, wireless, cable. But business will not suffer. The state can help businesses by launching public-private programmes. For the digital dividend, this would look like an impossible task, but in the end, the majority of member states are going to open it up to other technologies, and it makes sense for it to be opened up to wireless services.

The EU will regulate the telecoms markets with the help of a new agency, the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC), as of the entry into force of the package. What do you understand about this new organisation?

In a very positive way, the harmonisation [of the regulation] must be balanced. The Commission wanted something highly centralised. But it will be flexible. It is a ‘bottom up’ model. For this, five conditions are necessary: 1. external pressure, such as that of the Commission; 2. leadership, ie a group of people who want change; 3. a ‘professional touch’ (what can be useful to the EU?); 4. a great deal of fieldwork with the regulators; and, lastly, 5. communication and transparency. The result is, for example, the digital dividend: a chance to maintain technological leadership in Europe in the future, as well as to allow a fourth generation network another mobile phone success, which may be called LTE [Long Term Evolution, a standard for the fourth generation of mobile networks, 4G - Ed].

What do you see as the priorities to be tackled by the new Commission and regulators?

There are five priorities: 1. retaining an open internet; 2. balanced harmonisation in telecoms; 3. legislation on copyright, data protection and security (besides infrastructures, the issues of content and consumers should be dealt with at the same time); 4. online programmes launched by governments (online administration, online health); and, lastly, 5. greater coordination to fight ‘digital illiteracy’ and lack of interest. After having spent so much time focusing on NGNs [next generation networks], let us also focus on the new generation of consumers.

Broadcasters are actually warning against interference, if their frequencies are open to other services...

There is, in fact, a legitimate concern, of a technical nature, on the part of cable operators, which must be resolved.

Consumers must also obtain new equipment in order to access digital television…

This does not concern use of the digital dividend, but the transition from analogue to digital TV. It is necessary to buy either a new television or a decoder. But the challenge is already on the agenda. Some countries have a good model, such as Estonia, which resorted to free-to-air [satellite technology that can only receive clear channels - Ed]. It is a question of good communication. The channels must be good and the decoders financially affordable. It is not a one-year process.