Consensus emerges in EU assembly over telco rules

By Huw Jones

BRUSSELS, July 2 (Reuters) - European Union lawmakers are set to water down parts of plans from the bloc's executive to overhaul EU telecom rules, but will back moves to split operators into business units, lawmakers said on Wednesday.

EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding wants to inject more competition into the 300 billion euro ($473.6 billion) sector so consumers have a wider choice of faster and cheaper services.

"In the end it's to empower our citizens to let them enjoy better products at lower prices. Where you have competition on the market you get investment, new systems at acceptable prices," Reding told an EU consultative committee.

EU states and the European Parliament have the final say on the package. Parliament's key industry committee votes on it next week and cross-party support has emerged for big changes to the package.

"I think we have now a common view on the essential points," Catherine Trautmann, a French socialist who is steering parts of the package through parliament, told reporters.

Reding's plan for a pan-EU electronic communications authority will be ditched and instead an existing body of regulators from EU states will be enhanced into a Body of European Regulators in Telecoms or BERT.

"I think this is all accepted to a certain extent but there will be discussions on financing of this body," Trautmann said.

Lawmakers will also scrap Reding's plan for the Commission to have a veto over decisions taken by national telecom regulators and instead give BERT the last word, Trautmann said.