As noted in the Commission fifth report on the implementation of the telecommunications regulatory package fn, the local access network remains one of the least competitive segments of the liberalised telecommunications market, because new entrants do not have wide-spread alternative network infrastructures and are unable with traditional technologies to match the economies of scale and scope of operators notified as having significant market power in the fixed network (hereinafter referred to as "notified operators").

all relevant detail regarding local network architecture, information concerning the locations of physical access sites, availability of copper pairs in specific parts of the access network;

This results from the fact that operators rolled out their old copper local access networks over significant periods of time protected by exclusive rights and were able to fund its investment costs through monopoly rents.

The "local loop" refers to the physical copper line circuit in the local access network connecting the customer's premises to the operator's local switch, concentrator or equivalent facility.

This applies in particular to the roll-out of new service in the local access network, access to unbundled local loops, availability of collocation space, provision of leased transmission capacity for access to collocation sites, ordering, provisioning, quality and maintenance procedures.

The conclusions of the special European Council of Lisbon on 23 and 24 March 2000 note that for Europe to fully seize the growth and job potential of the digital, knowledge-based economy, it is required that businesses and citizens have access to an inexpensive, world-class communications infrastructure and a wide range of services, and to provide this calls on the Member States, together with the Commission, "to work towards introducing greater competition in local access networks before the end of 2000 and unbundling the local loop, in order to help bring about a substantial reduction in the costs of using the Internet".

High-speed bit-stream access refers to the situation where the incumbent installs a high-speed access link to the customers premises (e.g. by installing its preferred ADSL equipment and configuration in its local access network) and then makes this access link available to third parties, to enable them to provide high-speed services to customers.

As noted in the Commission's Fifth Report on the implementation of the telecommunications regulatory package, the local access network remains one of the least competitive segments of the liberalised telecommunications market.

High-speed bit-stream access refers to the situation where the incumbent installs a high speed access link to the customers premises (e.g. by installing its preferred ADSL equipment and configuration in its local access network) and then makes this access link available to third parties, to enable them to provide high-speed services to customers.

The incumbents' local access network (i.e. the copper pairs connecting end-users to the closest distribution frames) is not the only technical infrastructure allowing for the provision of retail services to end-users.

Information concerning the locations of physical access sites(1), availability of local loops in specific parts of the access network;

this means that as soon as access is given to this part of the incumbents' network a new access market develops which is also a relevant market to take into consideration.

To overcome the limited current competition in the local access network referred to above, three means of access to the local loop are considered:

"local sub-loop" means a partial local loop connecting the network termination point at the subscriber's premises to a concentration point or a specified intermediate access point in the fixed public telephone network;

Traditionally it takes the form of pairs of copper wires (one pair per normal telephone line), but increasingly fibre-optic cables are being deployed to connect large customers, and other technologies are also being rolled out in the local access network(4).

This results from the fact that operators rolled out their local access networks over significant periods of time protected by exclusive rights and were able to fund its investment costs through monopoly rents.

pricing of local loops should be compatible with the aim of fostering fair and sustainable competition, and providing efficient investment incentives in alternative local access network infrastructure(18),

It identifies actions that Member States are invited to take to address limited competition in the local access network where the incumbent continues to dominate both the provision of voice telephony and the development of higher bandwidth services.

For the incumbent, provision of a high-speed bit-stream service is attractive in that it does not involve physical access to copper pairs, and so does not hinder the progressive modernisation of the local access network (i.e. replacing copper by fibre).

High-speed access services, when combined with a transmission service that delivers traffic to the new entrant's point of presence, can be attractive, in particular in the early stage of the new entrant's network deployment, in that it allows the new entrant to deliver broadband service to customers in advance of its own network build-out.

Providing access to the local loop to all new entrants will increase the level of competition and technological innovation in the local access network, which will in turn stimulate the competitive provision of a full range of telecommunication services from simple voice telephony to broadband services to the customer.

This Decision establishes a common technical regulation covering the access requirements for terminal equipment for the Phase II public digital cellular telecommunications networks operating in the DCS 1 800 band with a channel separation of 200 kHz and carrying traffic channels according to the TDMA principale.

At the same time, given the cost of investment in local access network infrastructure and/or dependence of the service offerings of the incumbent, competition in provision of full voice telephony services (including the connection, monthly rental and local calls markets) is concentrated on business customers in urban areas.

This Regulation shall apply without prejudice to the obligations for notified operators to comply with the principle of non-discrimination, when using the fixed public telephone network in order to provide high speed access and transmission services to third parties in the same manner as they provide for their own services or to their associated companies, in accordance with Community provisions.

Providing access to the local loop to all new entrants will increase the level of competition and technological innovation in the local access network, which will in turn stimulate the competitive provision of a full range of telecommunication services from simple voice telephony to broadband multimedia and high-speed Internet services to the customer.

This Decision establishes a common technical regulation covering the access requirements for terminal equipment for the pan-European cellular digital landbased mobile telecommunications network comprising constant envelope modulation and operating in the 900 MHz band with a channel separation of 200 kHz and carrying traffic channels according to the TDMA principle.

local area network (LAN) and wide area network (WAN) apparatus, including those products dedicated for use solely or principally to permit the interconnection of automatic data processing machines and units thereof for a network that is used primarily for the sharing of resources such as central processor units, data storage devices and input or output - including adapters, hubs, in-line repeaters, converters, concentrators, bridges and routers and printed circuit assemblies for physical incorporation into automatic data processing machines and units thereof,

local area network (LAN) and wide area network (WAN) apparatus, including those products dedicated for use solely or principally to permit the interconnection of automatic data processing machines and units thereof for a network that is used primarily for the sharing of resources such as central processor units, data storage devices and input or output units - including adapters, hubs, in-line repeaters, converters, concentrators, bridges and routers, and printed circuit assemblies for physical incorporation into automatic data processing machines and units thereof.