European Court of Justice to decide on the interconnection of electronic communications networks

Government Communications Unit
Press release 334/2009
11.11.2009

On Thursday, 12 November, the Court of Justice of the European Communities will give its preliminary ruling at the request of the Finnish Supreme Administrative Court on the case TeliaSonera Finland vs. the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority. The matter pending at the Supreme Administrative Court concerns the interconnection of electronic communications networks. The request of preliminary ruling relates to the interpretation of the so called Access Directive.

In its request, the Supreme Administrative Court inquires whether the Access Directive is to be interpreted so that national legislation may provide, as in the Finnish Communications Market Act, that any telecommunications operator has an obligation to negotiate on interconnection with another telecommunications operator. Finland has taken the view that the Access Directive does not provide any impediment to national legislation prescribing that the obligation to negotiate applies to all telecommunications operators.

Furthermore, the Supreme Administrative Court inquires whether a national regulatory authority can take the view that the obligation to negotiate has not been complied with where a telecommunications operator which does not have significant market power has offered another operator interconnection under conditions which the authority regards as wholly unilateral. Finland’s response to the question is affirmative.

The Supreme Administrative Court also asks whether the Access Directive should be interpreted so that the national regulatory authority can in its decision require the telecommunications operator to negotiate in good faith on the interconnection of text and multi-media communications services between operators' systems in such a way that regard must be had to the objectives which interconnection seeks to achieve and so that negotiations must guarantee the operation of communications services under reasonable conditions. In Finland’s view, the national regulatory authority can have the power of decision described in the question concerned.

In addition, the Supreme Administrative Court inquires whether the nature of the network of the operator requesting the interconnection, or whether the company should be regarded as a public electronic communications networks operator, have any bearing on the assessment of the questions set out above. According to Finnish remarks, the assessment of the questions is not affected by the nature of the operator’s network or whether the company should be regarded as a public electronic communications networks operator.

Advocate-General Dámaso Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer gave his proposal on a settlement of the matter on 14 May 2009. Partly contradicting the Finnish view, Colomer stated that national legislation can prescribe the obligation to negotiate on interconnection only to public electronic communications networks operators. The question whether the obligation to negotiate had not been complied with Colomer proposed an affirmative answer in line with the Finnish view. Contrary to the Finnish view, Advocate-General Colomer considered that the national regulatory authority cannot impose an obligation to negotiate and that the nature of the network has a bearing on the assessment of the questions set out above only when the obligation to negotiate concerns public electronic communications networks operators.

The judgments of the European Court of Justice are available at its website(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window) during the afternoon of the publication day. The case number is C-192/08.

Further information: Alice Guimaraes-Purokoski, Head of Unit, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 5714