Gibraltar
Telecommunications
After
the long awaited Gibraltar Telecommunications
Ordinance 2001 finally came into effect on the
19th July 2001, and a regulatory authority was
set up, full liberalisation of the telecommunications
industry in Gibraltar led to a reorganisation
of the sector.
Until
2002, the two main Gibraltar telecommunications
companies, Gibraltar Telecommunications Limited
(GibTel) and Gibraltar Nynex Communications
Limited (Nynex), had been offering a range of
Internet services for some time, operating
a digital telephone system which was becoming
increasingly fibre optic, and providing ISDN
and leased lines from at least 64kb with sufficiently
large bandwidth for international users. The
local telephony service was operated by Nynex
under a government licence (the government owned
half the company) and the international link,
via the UK by satellite, was run by GibTel which
was a joint venture between the Gibraltar government
and British Telecom plc.In
mid-2000, Nynex sold its 50 per cent share to
BT so in practice both telecommunications companies
were 50/50 joint ventures between BT and the
Gibraltar government. BT's stake was then acquired
by Verizon Communications.
GNC
and Gibraltar Telecommunications International
Limited (Gibtel) were brought into common ownership
in 2001, and rebranded as Gibtelecom in 2002.
Gibraltar NYNEX Communications Limited (GNC)
changed its name to Gibtelecom Limited as from
1 October 2003. Gibtelecom was then a joint
venture company owned jointly by Verizon Communications
of the USA and the Government of Gibraltar.
The Gibtelecom Group comprises Gibraltar Nynex
Communications (GNC), Gibraltar Telecommunications
International (Gibtel) and GNC's wholly owned
Internet services subsidiary company, Gibconnect.
In
April 2007, it was announced that Telekom Slovenije
had completed its purchase of Verizon Communication's
50% shareholding in Gibtelecom, the main provider
of telecommunications services in Gibraltar.
Commenting
on the move, the Chairman of the Company, and
Minister for Heritage, Culture, Youth, and Sport,
Fabian Vinet stated that: “The sale announcement
brings to an end the speculation concerning
Verizon Communications Inc's exit from Gibraltar
as part of their strategy of rationalising their
world wide investments."
He
continued: “The Government looked forward
to the new partnership with Telekom Slovenije
and the two Companies working together in continuing
to advance technologies and deliver world class
communications in Gibraltar."
Vinet
went on to express the Gibraltar government’s
and the company’s appreciation “for
the instrumental part they and their predecessors,
Bell Atlantic and Nynex, had played in developing
Gibraltar’s telecommunications".
The
Telekom Slovenije group is the main telecommunications
provider in Slovenia, serving a population of
2 million people with fixed line and internet
services, together with mobile services through
its subsidiary, Mobitel.
The
effects of liberalisation are now being felt
as new players come into the market, quality
improves and the prices of many services fall
in real terms. The Government says it views
these developments as fundamental for the growth
and development of an Information Society.
Since
the introduction of International Direct Dialling,
Gibraltar had its own international area code
(350) that is in use for all international telephone
traffic to Gibraltar except from Spain. Spain
has traditionally refused to recognise the 350
code or to enter roaming agreements with Gibraltar
mobile operators, meaning that Gibraltar had
almost exhausted the existing 30,000 telephone
numbers which could be used from Spain. Gibtel
and and GNC filed complaints against Spain under
Article 86 of the Treaty of Rome, but Spain
had, until recently, resisted pressure from
the Commission to accept the 350 code.
In
September, 2004, Gibtelecom announced that it
had launched legal proceedings against the European
Commission over Spain's refusal to recognise
the international direct dialling (IDD) code
assigned to the Rock by the International Telecommunication
Union.
"The
Spanish government considers that recognition
of Gibraltar's internationally-recognised 350
code is tantamount to recognising Gibraltar
as an independent state," the telecoms firm,
which is jointly owned by the Gibraltar government
and Verizon Communications, suggested in a statement.
In
1996, the EC declined to proceed on a complaint
issued by Gibtelecom's forerunner, Gibraltar
NYNEX Communications Limited.
In
July, 2005, the governments of the United Kingdom,
Spain and Gibraltar concluded the second round
of trilateral talks which focused primarily
on issues concerning the airport, the frontier,
pensions and telecommunications.
A
joint press statement issued by the three governments
characterised the latest round of talks, which
concluded on July 9 in Faro, as "constructive
and fruitful" and conducted in an "amicable
atmosphere", despite the difficult and complex
nature of the issues at hand.
"The
forum also reviewed the work of the Technical
Working Group on Telecommunications which had
met several times since the Malaga meeting.
The aim is to find a way acceptable to all sides,
to increase the number of Gibraltar telephone
numbers accessible from the Spanish network
and to facilitate mobile roaming. The Forum
was pleased to note that the Technical Working
Group was making good progress in identifying
possible solutions."
In
September 2006, agreement over a number of outstanding
issues relating to Gibraltar was reached between
the UK's Minister for Europe, Geoff Hoon, Spanish
Foreign Minister Migel Angel Moratinos and Gibraltar's
Chief Minister, Peter Caruana.
Areas
covered by the agreements included the expanded
use of Gibraltar Airport, the full inclusion
of Gibraltar in EU air liberalisation measures,
recognition by Spain of Gibraltar's '350' international
dialling code and unblocking by Spain of Gibraltar
mobile telephone roaming in Spain.
