Problems	Solutions
Interconnect Regulation Secrecy Implementing unmetering Local loop unbundling	Interconnect Regulation Secrecy Implementing unmetering Local loop unbundling

A solution to the interconnect problem Any metered interconnect charging is ruinous and has to go. Interestingly, Cable and Wireless Communications agree with us; they lobbied OFTEL in early 1997 for a change similar to what we propose here. OFTEL turned them down at the time and there, it would seem, the matter has rested. That decision by OFTEL was no surprise, as the interconnect model in this country is their baby: they set the per-minute rates and police them. We had already thought up a solution, then found a spectacular confirmation of it while rummaging through EU information. Our solution is: Instead of ongoing metered payments between telecommunications operators, they agree in advance to buy blocks of bandwidth at commercial rates. Once the bandwidth is bought, the purchaser can chop it up for its subscribers as it sees fit; this gives complete flexibility in tariffing. In the event of a dispute, the regulator acts as referee with the power to impose rates. The EU Interconnection Pricing paper gives a list of several countries and the interconnect model used in each. Note that the three countries listed with unmetered access (Australia, New Zealand and the USA) and the one with the cheapest metered access (Sweden) have 'Negotiations between the parties ...' as their model; the two countries with more expensive metered access (Denmark, UK) have 'National Regulatory Authority sets rates ...'! And there is a quote further on in the same paper: In an ideal situation, where an industry comprised established players with relatively stable market shares, capacity-based charging would be the most efficient interconnect pricing rule. Surely we must be there or thereabouts?