Capacity shortfall to be resolved through better arrangements made by the telecommunications companies

By making better arrangements with each other, the telecommunications companies should be able to guarantee that there is no disruption of the telephone calls between these subscribers as a result of the capacity shortfall. OPTA has stated this in a letter sent to all of the telecommunications companies yesterday.

The reason for this letter lies in the contradictory information which OPTA has received about interconnection capacity. Until recently OPTA regularly received indications from KPN’s competitors that there was a shortage of such connections, which constitute the link between the networks of the various telecommunications companies. When the last survey was conducted at the end of November, most of the market parties were no longer able to confirm that there was a shortfall of interconnection capacity. Neither have any disputes concerning interconnections been filed with OPTA since April this year. OPTA is not excluding the possibility that information concerning the existence (or not) of such a shortfall may be influenced by the status of negotiations being conducted amongst the parties.

Since OPTA is now unable to determine precisely the extent to which there is still a shortfall, for the time being it is refraining from taking any action which would only compel KPN to supply interconnections, as requested. This does not mean that individual companies cannot approach OPTA if they are experiencing difficulties in this respect.

Nevertheless, it has become clear to OPTA that the telecommunications companies have not been making proper arrangements with each other concerning the manner in which they deal with each other’s telephone calls. Such arrangements should make it possible for KPN’s competitors to respond promptly to their customers’ demands, while simultaneously preventing the telecommunications companies from ordering excessive interconnection capacity (‘hoarding’). Added to this is the fact that the telecommunication companies have a duty to ensure that their subscribers can phone each other without any difficulty. OPTA is therefore considering measures which will ensure that these companies actually make proper arrangements.

By making better arrangements with each other, the telecommunications companies should ensure that telephone calls between their subscribers are not disrupted by a capacity shortfall.