Europe's ONP bargain : What's in it for the user?

Abstract

Open Network Provision (ONP) is characterized as an institutionalized collective bargaining process in which the interests of the telecommunications user in Europe have often been overlooked. This article examines how the practical measures put in place by the ONP process have addressed user interests. Second, it asks how users have influenced the direction of the ONP process, particularly with regard to the proposed Voice Telephony Directive and, finally, it asks how ONP will meet the needs of the user in the future. It argues that the ONP bargain should be shifted from the Community level to the marketplace itself, allowing experience to necessitate regulation, rather than regulation to dictate experience.