Guarantees for operators

A cornerstone in Agcom’s activity is the promotion and the safeguard of competition in the telecommunication market, where monopoly was strong and where hard regulation was needed.

With the opening of the incumbent’s network and the regulation of interconnection and access, liberalization got under way; through tariff rebalancing in fixed telephony and in fixed-to-mobile communications, Agcom removed the main market distorsions.

Of great importance were: the approval of the numbering plan, which helped rationalising numbering resources and fostering new services; the introduction of carrier selection, carrier preselection, local loop unbundling, and mobile number portability, which are fundamental steps to a fair and equal competition

In the first three years of its activity, Agcom’s commitment has been to liberalize markets and to create proper conditions for longlasting expansion of the market.

This applies to audiovisuals as well, where intervention by Agcom aims at ensuring pluralism and an efficient distribution of resources.

To this end, Agcom must adopt the National Plans for Frequency Assignment for Radio-Television Broadcasting, ascertain the existence of dominant positions, verify that antitrust rules are correctly applied.

As the launching of digital television in 2006 approaches, Agcom has issued the regulation concerning terrestrial, cable and satellite broadcasting and adopted a series of measures to reduce concentration in the assets of Rai and Mediaset, the two major players in the radio-television sector, and to boost entrepreneurial skills of new operators.

A detailed picture of the new entrants in the communications markets will be offered by the Registry of the Communication Operators, whose regulation has been recently approved by the Authority.