Given the above-mentioned problems, regulators face the challenging task of regulating a market that is changing very rapidly, without stifling any type of innovation, and without improperly disadvantaging any competitor. The process has been long - the first action in the EU resulted from a report written for the European Commission in 1993.
It took several years for the EU legislation to require unbundling and then in individual EU countries the process took further time to mature to become practical and economic rather than simply being a legal possibility. In 1996 the United States Telecommunication Act (in section 251) defined the unbundled access as: The 1993 report referred to the logical requirement to unbundle optical fibre access but recommended deferral to a later date when fibre access had become more common.
Instead, under the Swiss ex post regulation system, each new entrant must first try to reach an individual agreement with Swisscom, the state-owned ILEC. ===Hong Kong=== Mandatory local loop unbundling policy (termed Type II Interconnection (Traditional Chinese:第二類互連) in Hong Kong) started on July 1, 1995 (the same day of telephone market liberalisation), to ensure choice to customers.
It took several years for the EU legislation to require unbundling and then in individual EU countries the process took further time to mature to become practical and economic rather than simply being a legal possibility. In 1996 the United States Telecommunication Act (in section 251) defined the unbundled access as: The 1993 report referred to the logical requirement to unbundle optical fibre access but recommended deferral to a later date when fibre access had become more common.
In March 2008 Telecom activated ADSL 2+ services from five Auckland exchanges – Glenfield, Browns Bay, Ellerslie, Mt Albert and Ponsonby – with further plans for the rest of Auckland and other major centres, allowing other ISPs to take advantage. ===Switzerland=== Switzerland is one of the last OECD nations to provide for unbundling, because the Swiss Federal Supreme Court held in 2001 that the 1996 Swiss Telecommunications Act did not require it.
2.2(b) of the 1998 Reference Paper, to which some Members have subscribed, requires "sufficiently unbundled interconnection" with major providers.
About 80 (mostly developed) Members have done so since 1998. ===India=== LLU has not been implemented in Indian cities yet.
In March 2008 Telecom activated ADSL 2+ services from five Auckland exchanges – Glenfield, Browns Bay, Ellerslie, Mt Albert and Ponsonby – with further plans for the rest of Auckland and other major centres, allowing other ISPs to take advantage. ===Switzerland=== Switzerland is one of the last OECD nations to provide for unbundling, because the Swiss Federal Supreme Court held in 2001 that the 1996 Swiss Telecommunications Act did not require it.
Prices are set through a market mechanism. ===New Zealand=== The Commerce Commission recommended against local loop unbundling in late 2003 as Telecom New Zealand (now Spark New Zealand) offered a market-led solution.
The government then enacted an ordinance providing for unbundling in 2003, and Parliament amended the act in 2006.
In May 2004 this was confirmed by the Government, despite the intense "call4change" campaign by some of Telecom's competitors.
At the meeting of the Executive Council on 6 July 2004, the government decided that the regulatory intervention under the current Type II interconnection policy applicable to telephone exchanges for individual buildings covered by such exchanges should be withdrawn, subject to conditions documented in this Statement of the Telecommunications Authority.
Part of Telecom's commitment to the Commerce Commission to avoid unbundling was a promise to deliver 250,000 new residential broadband connections by the end of 2005, one-third of which were to be wholesaled through other providers.
In 2006 there were the first signs that (as a result of the municipal fibre networks movement and example such as Sweden where unbundled local loop fibre is commercially available from both the incumbent and competitors) policy may yet evolve in this direction. ==Unbundling developments around the world== ===World Trade Organisation=== Some provisions of WTO telecommunications law can be read to require unbundling: Sect.
Ofcom had hoped that 1 million local loop connections would be unbundled by June 2006.
However, as reported by The Register, on 15 June 2006, the figure had reached only 500,000, but was growing by 20,000 a week.
Ofcom announced in November 2006 that 1,000,000 connections had been unbundled.
The achieved number was less than 50,000 wholesale connections, despite total connections exceeding 300,000. On 3 May 2006 the Government announced it would require the unbundling of the local loop.
The government then enacted an ordinance providing for unbundling in 2003, and Parliament amended the act in 2006.
Hong Kong is the only advanced economy that has withdrawn the mandatory local loop unbundling policy. ===South Africa=== On 25 May 2006 the Minister of Communications of South Africa Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri established the Local Loop Unbundling Committee chaired by Professor Tshilidzi Marwala to recommend the appropriate local loop unbundling models.
Regulatory action such as information disclosure, the separate accounting of Telecom New Zealand business operations, and enhanced Commerce Commission monitoring was announced. On 9 August 2007 Telecom released the keys to exchanges in Glenfield and Ponsonby in Auckland.
The Local Loop Unbundling Committee submitted a report to Minister Matsepe-Casaburri on 25 May 2007.
By 2008 the price war had reduced basic broadband prices to INR 250 (US$6), including line rental without any long-term contracts.
In March 2008 Telecom activated ADSL 2+ services from five Auckland exchanges – Glenfield, Browns Bay, Ellerslie, Mt Albert and Ponsonby – with further plans for the rest of Auckland and other major centres, allowing other ISPs to take advantage. ===Switzerland=== Switzerland is one of the last OECD nations to provide for unbundling, because the Swiss Federal Supreme Court held in 2001 that the 1996 Swiss Telecommunications Act did not require it.
On 30 June 2009, Tiscali sold its UK subsidiary to Carphone Warehouse following regulatory approval from the European Union.
The service was rebranded as TalkTalk in January 2010. Most LLU operators only unbundle the broadband service leaving the traditional telephone service using BT's core equipment (with or without the provision of carrier preselect).
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