The 27 telecommunication ministers of the European Union unanimously dismissed Commissioner Viviane Reding's plans to create a powerful central telecom regulatory body at a meeting in Luxembourg, an IDG News report said.

The report said the ministers were more supportive of other elements of her reform plans, including the functional separation punishment with which she wants to threaten former telecom monopolies.

They also backed her latest idea to issue guidelines for the telecom industry on ensuring a fair return on investment and sharing of next-generation telecom infrastructure.

Reding's vision of a single European regulator was laid down last year in her proposals for reforming Europe's telecom laws. Initially, her plan was presented as a European equivalent of the powerful US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and was a central plank in her reform package, the IDG News report added.

It would combine the roles of ENISA, the European network security agency, with an overview of the telecom market in one supra-national body.

However, hostility to the plan has grown, especially among national telecom authorities, which would have been eclipsed by the new central body if it were created, the report further said.

Source:telecomasia.net