Watchdog thumbs nose at Brussels over mobile rates

Taking a leaf out of Mariano Rajoy's book over the deficit, the Spanish telecommunications regulator (CMT) has squared up to Brussels by insisting on setting its own timetable for reducing wholesale mobile call rates.

In a hard-hitting statement released Monday, the European Commission said it had suspended plans by the CMT to postpone by a year the introduction of cheaper mobile termination rates (MTRs), the rates mobile firms charge each other for delivering voice calls. However, in its blog, the watchdog late Monday insisted the authority to set wholesale rates lay with national regulators and that speeding up the cuts would hurt the local market.

Brussels wants Spain's MTRs cut by between 75 and 80 percent by the end of this year, but the CMT insists on phasing in the reductions through to the end of the following year.

"Carrying this out in a very short period of time could have a destabilizing impact on the mobile market since it significantly reduces the revenues of some operators at a time when the sector needs to undertake heavy investment," the CMT said.

"Spanish consumers should not have to pay over the odds for mobile calls, especially when domestic finances are so tight. Industry has already had three years to adapt and a further delay of one year is unjustifiable," European Union Vice President Neelie Kroes said.