International Journal of Communications Law & Policy

COST-BASED INTERCONNECTION PRICES IN CEE

By Jannine Senior

Vision in Business conference on 'Cost-based Interconnection Prices in CEE' which was held 21st - 24th June 1999 in Budapest, Hungary.

The variety of countries represented through the speakers and participants made the event a truly CEE experience. Indeed the participants and speakers came from Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, the Ukraine and Slovenia. Also present were speakers from the UK, the US, the Netherlands and Norway to share their experiences of implementing cost-based interconnection prices.

Participants particularly benefited from hearing about the introduction of different approaches to interconnection costing and cost models, the concepts of LRIC and the practical application, how to use alternative tools for benchmarking purposes, discussions on LRIC, access deficit charges and USO. Incumbents presenting included Matav, Lattelekom, Romtelecom and Lietuvos Telekomas while the new entrants included both fixed and mobile operators such as Westel 900, Pantel Telecom, Hungarian Telephone & Cable Corp, Ritabell and Netia Telekom.

Discussion sessions after the talks were encouraged and participants took up the opportunity to ask a number of questions. With the Hungarian telecoms industry well represented, interesting discussions followed presentations from the key industry players: the Deputy Secretary of State speaking from the Hungarian Ministry of Transport, Communications & Water Management plus the incumbent, mobile operators and new entrants.

For more information about future Vision in Business conferences, why not visit their website on http://www.visibis.com