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NCC published a draft announcement regarding the definition of telecom service markets to facilitate the determination of telecom operators with significant market power
NCC published a draft announcement regarding the definition of telecom service markets to facilitate the determination of telecom operators with significant market power
Under the authorization of Paragraph 2, Article 27 of the Telecommunications Management Act (“TMA”) and Article 2 of the Regulations Governing the Determination and Cancellation of Operators with Significant Market Power, the National Communications Commission (“NCC”) published a draft announcement regarding the definition of telecom service markets (“Draft Announcement”) on December 20, 2021 for public comment after taking the following factors into consideration: (i) developments of technology and services; (ii) the significance of each telecom service market in the overall telecom service market; (iii) the area or range in which market participants compete; (iv) the substitutability of demand or supply of each telecom service; and (v) the structure and competition of each telecom service market.
According to the Draft Announcement, the NCC is planning to define the following telecom service markets:
1. Fixed network voice service retail market (which refers to domestic calls, fixed-to-mobile calls and other relevant services).
2. Fixed network broadband service retail market (which refers to broadband internet services to end-users, including FTTx, xDSL, cable and other fixed internet services, taking bandwidth into consideration depending on market developments).
3. Fixed network service wholesale market (including telecom operators providing interfacing circuits connecting IASPs and their users, interconnection services between telecom operators, broadband internet circuits, other domestic/long-distance data transmission circuits as well as private peering).
4. Fixed network voice interconnection service market.
5. Mobile voice interconnection service market.
Furthermore, according to the NCC’s press release, each of the above listed telecom service markets is a nationwide market. For the broadband service retail market and the broadband internet circuit market, the NCC has taken (i) FTTx, xDSL, cable and other fixed internet services; and (ii) bandwidth (depending on the market developments) into consideration.
Under the TMA, the NCC may impose special control measures on a telecom operator with significant market power in a certain telecom service market, such as requiring such telecom operator to provide interconnection or access to its network components or allow the use of relevant telecom infrastructure. The Draft Announcement can be deemed as the beginning of the relevant special control measures on telecom operators with significant market power. In addition, how the NCC defines the relevant markets may become a reference when the Fair Trade Commission (“FTC”) defines identical or similar relevant markets in the future.
Members of Lee and Li’s Digital, TMT and Data Privacy Practice Group were invited by the NCC to participate in relevant discussions and provide advice during the drafting process of the Draft Announcement. If you have any questions about the Draft Announcement or its potential impact on the telecom and digital industries, please do not hesitate to contact any member of our Digital, TMT and Data Privacy Practice Group.