Operational environment

European and international cooperation

An EU Regulation on international roaming entered into force on 30 June 2007. FICORA monitored in order to ensure that Finnish operators took the price caps decreed in the Regulation into use according to schedule.

The Audio-Visual Media Services Directive was approved in November. It must be made a part of national legislation within two years. The European Commission also gave its proposals for new Electronic Communication Directives. At the same time, the Commission gave a new recommendation on the relevant product markets. The number of markets included in the recommendation fell from 18 to seven.

In the near future it will be possible to use mobile phones in airplanes. FICORA has had an active influence on the study of the technical requirements of mobile telephony services to be offered in airplanes and the harmonisation at the European level of regulations concerning them.

By a decision of the European Commission, new pan-European service numbers starting with the digits 116 will be taken into use in all EU countries. FICORA cooperated with telecom companies in preparing the measures through which the new numbers will be usable in Finland as well.