The European Commission yesterday targeted the roaming fees charged by mobile firms and high speed internet access as areas which may need regulation under its new regulatory framework.
And in a significant move it may have opened up the possibility of national telecommunications regulators bringing satellite firms such as BSkyB within their regulatory umbrella.
In an eagerly anticipated decision yesterday, the Commission published 18 separate markets which may need regulation, but said there was no need for extra red tape outside of those areas.
Mr Mario Monti, EU competition commissioner, told a news conference that sector-specific intervention was indispensable, although he indicated that "regulation remains the exception, antitrust rules remain the rule".
The Commission wants regulators to ensure national phone companies do not hamper competitors' use of their infrastructure when such access is essential for them to offer high-speed internet.
It has also targeted mobile phone firms in a probe of the high tariffs which they charge consumers for "roaming" - using their mobile phones while abroad.
The recommendations to national regulators will enable each state to begin a process of conducting analysis on each of the 18 markets to determine if they are already competitive, or may need to be regulated.
The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) has already strongly argued that the European Commission needs to intervene in the mobile and pay TV markets to protect Irish consumers.
The decision yesterday by the Commission should enable ComReg to intervene in both markets if an analysis proves the markets are not yet competitive.
In an interesting development, the European Commission removed the distinction between different broadcasting platforms in a manner that could bring BSkyB under ComReg's regulation.
BSkyB, which provides 255,000 Irish people with Sky TV, and ComReg are locked in a bitter dispute over whether ComReg can regulate the firm here.
BSkyB says that, as it does not operate a network in the Republic, but rather beams its content by satellite from another jurisdiction, it does not fall within Irish regulation.
ComReg says it should be treated the same as cable firms which are strictly regulated in the Republic.
A note in the Commission's recommendations published yesterday says member-states may permit regulators to review the market for access systems for digital television "irrespective of the means of transmission".
This suggests that ComReg could be able to bring BSkyB under its regulatory umbrella, if it can persuade the Republic's Government to allow a market analysis and if this analysis shows that the Irish pay TV market is not yet competitive.
