--- F R E N D Z of martian --- BT won't let go of the ball; they're having too much fun - but the Office of the US Trade Representative wants to play... Fw: <nettime> Covad/USTR threaten UK's BT: DSL or WTO -- Martin Cosgrave Appdev Ltd - http://appdev.co.uk 0117 902 3143 ----- Original Message ----- From: nettime's_roving_reporter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2000 1:29 PM Subject: <nettime> Covad/USTR threaten UK's BT: DSL or WTO > <http://www.totaltele.com/view.asp?ArticleID=27061&pub=tt&categoryid=0> > > U.S. slams BT over DSL access > By Jane Dudman, CommunicationsWeek International > 17 April 2000 > > The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is considering taking a > complaint against the United Kingdom to the World Trade > Organization over access to BT's local network for third-party > digital subscriber line service providers. > > The USTR has received submissions from DSL specialist Covad > Communications Co., Santa Clara, California, that BT is preventing > access to its network for DSL technology, and that regulator Oftel > is failing to ensure the rollout of DSL services in the United > Kingdom. > > A spokesman for Covad said complaints had also been filed to > Oftel. > > Earlier this month, U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky > said the United Kingdom should implement "immediately" a > European Union proposal that all EU member states allow > competitive entry of DSL services, through unbundling and > line-sharing arrangements. > > "We call upon the United Kingdom to implement this > recommendation immediately consistent with its WTO commitment > to allow reasonable and non-discriminatory access to BT's > networks for suppliers of all telecommunications services," > Barshefsky said in a statement. > > Barshefsky will review the U.S. demand on 15 June, but it appears > unlikely that the U.K. position will have changed by that date. Oftel > this month said third-party operators will be able to deliver DSL > services to their customers via BT's local loop by July 2001. > > This timescale gives BT, which plans to install its own DSL > equipment by this summer, a full year in which to get ahead of > potential competition. > > "When BT rolls out its ADSL service, which is already in trial, [the > market] will be asymmetric again, because BT will have had the > [marketing] momentum for a year," said Michael Potter, director of > telecoms and Internet investment company Paradigm Ventures. > > Rhian Ball, U.K. marketing director of San Jose, California-based > Concentric Network Corp., which is taking part in U.K. DSL trials > involving 14 companies, said her company has already experienced > delays in getting its U.K. data center linked up to BT's DSL > networks for the trial. > > "We are struggling against slow timescales," said Ball. "And we > support any moves through industry bodies to push [them] > forward." > > A U.S. Trade Representative official said a case against BT could > be brought to the WTO if progress is not made quickly enough on > local loop unbundling. > > The European Commission has recommended member states to > ensure local loop unbundling by December 2000 and it is not yet > clear whether this timescale will meet the U.S. government's > demands for immediate action in the United Kingdom. "We are > watching the situation," said the U.S. Trade Representative > official. > > > # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission > # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, > # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets > # more info: [EMAIL PROTECTED] and "info nettime-l" in the msg body > # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Sent to you via the frendz list at marsbard.com The archive is at http://www.mail-archive.com/frendz@marsbard.com/
