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EUTC 2007
Join us in Berlin from 4 – 7 November 2007 for EUTC 2007 at the Swissotel. For those of you that joined us in Rome for EUTC 2006 or for those of you that missed it, mark your calendars now for EUTC 2007. Sessions will focus on internal and competitive telecom for European utilities and the regulatory issues in energy and telecoms that utilities need to be aware of moving forward. Additionally, there will be sessions dealing with the EU’s SmartGrid initiative, the imposition of Next Generation Telecom networks and what it means for utilities. Come and see how EUTC is involved and how you can get involved in many of these activities. For more information, email meetings@utc.org [3].

UTC Europe Becomes European Utilities Telecom Council
To reflect UTC's name change, UTC Europe has changed its name to the European Utilities Telecom Council (EUTC) effective immediately. EUTC will continue to serve the interests of telecom and IT professionals of European utility companies and believes the name change will further strengthen their market position with UTC US. For more information on membership, click here [4].

EUTC Meets with Mr. Jaques Barrot, Vice President and Commissioner for Transport & Mr. Christopher Jones, Head of Cabinet for Energy Commission
Members of the Board of EUTC met with Mr. Jaques Barrot and Mr. Christopher Jones during a recent visit to Brussels to emphasize the importance of ICT services in enabling the realization of the New Energy Policy for Europe. The Chairman of EUTC, Mr. Miguel Angel Sanchez Fornie also took the opportunity to explain EUTC's aims and objectives and the growth in the membership of the organization.

European Commission Sees Need for Consistency in Telecom Rules
TR Daily reported that as Europe develops as a single market, consistent regulation is necessary, particularly in the telecom industry. There are several areas that need to be examined in light of this including spectrum issues and numbering tactics for VoIP services and other commercial broadband issues which now vary by country. In addition, the European Commission plans to address privacy and security rules as they revise overall telecom regulations in the one market theme.

Mobile Phone Reliance Slows Utility Workers
An article released by the Associated Press in March 2007 illustrated the importance of private radio systems. The article describes how emergency responders that responded to a tornado in Alabama overwhelmed the cell system after the storm trying to coordinate restoration efforts. However, as soon as they switched to the $18 million radio system, built with a US Homeland Security grant, the emergency responders had no difficulty at all communicating with one another to coordinate efforts.

EuroElectric Releases April Newsletter
EUTC News readers may be interested in another newsletter, Watt’s New, EuroElectric’s newsletter. It can be access from their home page at http://public.eurelectric.org/Content/Default.asp?PageID=438 [5] by clicking on the April 2007 edition in the upper right hand corner.

European Parliament Draft Report on Building a European Policy on Broadband
The draft report deals with the regulation of Broadband in Europe in a way that does not stifle creatively or competition in this market driven industry. The goal is to make Europe the "...leading knowledge economy in the world." The report gives statistics on penetration of broadband in different EU countries compared with population density and GDP.

BT Openreach Services Delivered Over Fiber to The Premises (FTTP) Report
BT Openreach solicited feedback from communications providers on potential requirement and demand for FTTP based on their market analysis [6]. Whilst this feedback focuses on the UK market and comments were required April 30, 2007, we encourage you to read their consultation document to get an idea of the FTTP projects in the industry today.

Commission Approach to Trans-European Transport, Energy and Telecommunications Networks
On 21 March 2007, the European Commission released results from a Steering Group entitled "Synergies Between Trans-European Networks." [7] The belief is that if obstacles for all industries are identified and common regulations addressed, growth will be multiplied. The goal is to ensure that Trans-European infrastructure is sustainable and compatible while at the same time minimizes any further impact on the environment. The report analyzed three types of synergies: procedural, physical and financial. The result is that many synergies between the industries exist and can be exploited in ways that improve the system while not harming competition.

EUTC Position Paper: European Energy Policy and Utility Telecoms
EUTC has crafted an overall position paper articulating the organizations objectives on European energy and utility telecom policies. The position paper highlights several key initiatives including Competitiveness, An Internal European Energy Market, Effective Regulation, Infrastructure Network Security Energy As a Public Service and "Strategic Energy" Planning. Additionally, it lays out two main objectives:

• To meet some energy policy goals, Europe’s utilities will have to be closely involved in efforts toward clean, renewable and efficient energy use. Utilities’ internal ICT needs must be considered as part of overall efforts and any regulatory requirements;
• The desired progress toward secure, efficient and cleaner energy use is most achievable across the broadest area possible, necessitating interconnection and integrated multi-State and multi-corporation networks. This will be possible only through large-scale use of ICT systems; therefore, their expansion and upgrading must be part of the overall energy policy.

Read the entire draft position paper here [8].

EU forms NESCO for Energy Issues
The Network of Energy Security Correspondents (NESCO), launched 10 May 2007, provides a forum for Europe to shape energy policy. Charged with the responsibility of "implementing EU policies on the ground" the organization brings together industry stakeholders including member companies and industry. More importantly, NESCO enables the EU to speak with "one voice" regarding energy issues and aid in implementation of the energy policy action plan recently adopted. Learn more about the EU's intelligent energy projects

EU Proposes Cellular Roaming Regulations
To address high roaming charges for approximately 147 million EU citizens, a regulation has been proposed to eliminate these charges and make roaming across national borders more affordable to business travelers and tourists. The main reason behind the overarching EU Regulation is due to the cross-border nature of these charges and no one member nation having the ability to regulate. This should benefit utility communications.

Broadband Rates Increase In EU
EU citizens in increasing numbers are gaining access to the Internet through broadband. In fact, in October 2005, Europe overtook the USA in terms of the number of broadband lines. The widespread use of broadband, which can be defined as high speed internet access that is always on, is helping the EU bridge the digital divide and maximize productivity gains. Additionally, broadband use helps advance society in general. Broadband continues to lag in rural areas. Specifically, "In 2005, broadband was available to only about 60% of businesses and households in the remote and rural areas of the EU15, compared to over 90% in the urban areas." Utilities that have competitive telco units should take note, since utilities are often in the position to serve the underserved rural community by nature of their core business.