The European Commission expressed its concern on the NetCity project - the concession towards UTI Systems of the public works of installing the metropolitan optic fiber backbone - saying that it may affect the free competition on the market. EC Commissioner Viviane Reding, said that the Commission will thoroughly analyze the situation, to ensure that Romanian and European competition laws were not broken.
"The City Halls should not intervene on the market in a way that distorts the competition. We want high-speed Internet in all European cities, but this must be done in an open way, without any discrimination. Bucharest is often called the Little Paris. In this case, Bucharest should follow the Paris model, where several companies in competition share the same network, a fact that generates better service for lower prices", said the European official, also warning that Brussels will not accept new IT monopolies. The European Commission expressed its concern on the NetCity project - the concession towards UTI Systems of the public works of installing the metropolitan optic fiber backbone - saying that it may affect the free competition on the market. EC Commissioner Viviane Reding, said that the Commission will thoroughly analyze the situation, to ensure that Romanian and European competition laws were not broken.
"The City Halls should not intervene on the market in a way that distorts the competition. We want high-speed Internet in all European cities, but this must be done in an open way, without any discrimination. Bucharest is often called the Little Paris. In this case, Bucharest should follow the Paris model, where several companies in competition share the same network, a fact that generates better service for lower prices", said the European official, also warning that Brussels will not accept new IT monopolies.
