The 10th meeting of the ANACOM-ANATEL (Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações and Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações, from Brazil) Coordination Committee took place in Estremoz, Portugal, from 13 to 15 December, in connection with the cooperation protocol in force. Both regulators presented the main measures they put in place since the last meeting, held in September 2005, as well as the projects they are planning for 2007.
ANACOM gave a broad view of the evolution of broadband in Portugal and presented the first study on the evaluation of the quality of the broadband Internet access service. The Brazilian regulator mentioned a set of documents on broadband in Brazil and highlighted the regulatory state of the available spectrum for broadband wireless access applications.
The regulatory costing system implemented by PT Comunicações, in the scope of its cost accountancy and cost separation obligations, was also approached, and European best practices in this domain were discussed, as well as the wholesale offer of capacity based interconnection.
Regarding television and digital radio frequency, ANATEL gave particular relevance to the WAPECS (Wireless Access Policy for Electronic Communications Services) activity ongoing in Europe. On its hand, ANACOM saw with great interest ANATEL’s measures for evaluation of the efficient spectrum use, as well as the bidding method for the third mobile generation (3G).
Regarding portability, ANATEL updated on the situation in Brazil, namely the difficulties from the implementation perspective, while ANACOM approached the issue of portability prices charged to users and of tariff transparency regarding ported numbers.
The issue of convergence raised considerable interest. The Brazilian regulator made an introduction to the subject and put forward the concept of “new generation regulation”, as parallel to the “new generation networks” (NGN). ANACOM approached the situation in Portugal and, at times, in Europe, regarding the television content distribution platforms, the impact of technological convergence and the switchover from the analogue to the digital system.
Issues in connection with the Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa (CPLP - Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries) and cooperation at the laboratory level in terms of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and radio were also debated. Regarding this last issue, an agreement was reached for the exchange of information on the standards in the scope of the establishment of mutual recognition agreements (MRA) currently in force both in the European Union and in Brazil.
The next bilateral meeting will take place in Brazil, probably in the second half of 2007.
Further information:
- ANATEL http://www.anatel.gov.br/institucional/
Related information on ANACOM's website:
- Telecommunications https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=60012
- 10th meeting of the ANACOM/ANATEL Co-ordination Committee https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=432096
