Press Release: Telecommunications: Broadband markets in Luxembourg will be further opened to competition

In a letter sent on 30 October 2006 to the telecom regulator of Luxembourg, Institut Luxembourgeois de Régulation (“ILR”), the European Commission welcomes a regulatory measure proposed by ILR at the end of September that will give new market entrants high-speed access to end-customers (or bit-stream access) via the broadband networks of Luxembourg’s telecom incumbent EPT (Entreprise des Postes et Télécommunications). The Commission welcomes in particular that the remedy proposed requires bitstream access regardless of the technology used by EPT (ADSL2, ADSL2+ and VDSL). Furthermore, the Commission invites the regulator of Luxembourg to ensure that the remedy applied is effective in ensuring competition to the benefit of consumers.