According to a statement:
“The Commission believes that although, in principle, 3G licensing conditions should not be changed, in order to ensure a predictable environment and legal certainty favourable to long-term investments, flexibility is recommended in case of unpredictable changes of circumstances requiring adaptations. These should remain proportional and transparent.”
While several operators have started implementing 3G networks, the Commission acknowledges that 3G is not at this stage a market reality. However, it believes there is “growing evidence of significant market potential for wireless data services that will constitute the added value of 3G, though uncertainty about the detailed evolution of the market persists.”
It adds:
“The Commission believes that the sector is best served by letting the market drive the process ahead, and by allowing for the deployment of a healthy competitive environment to generate new products which consumers will want to buy and use.“
The Commission says that it intends to use the new regulatory framework for electronic communications to work together with the national administrations to develop new harmonised approaches to licensing and attribution of rights to use radio spectrum for wireless applications.