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* Orange, Deutsche Tel execs want more consolidation
* They criticise EU telecom chief Kroes's reform plan
* Reforms intended to boost network investment
By Leila Abboud and Robert-Jan Bartunek
BRUSSELS, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Telecom firm bosses on Tuesdayurged the European Commission to reconsider a major reformpackage which includes a price cap on cross-border phone callsand an end to roaming fees, and to allow more consolidation inthe sector.
Their opposition throws up obstacles for the proposalschampioned by EU telecom chief Neelie Kroes which aim to spurcompanies to invest to help Europe catch up with the fast mobileand broadband networks in the United States and Asia.
Other elements of the reform package are industry-friendly,including cutting red tape for operators with cross-borderbusinesses, allowing providers to charge more for carryingdata-heavy services at high speeds and harmonising the sales oflucrative mobile spectrum by EU countries.
Kroes wants to push through the plan by next spring. It wasproposed in September and is set to be debated at a Europeansummit later this month.
However Stephane Richard, chief executive of France's Orange, said the roaming and price cap plans would deprivefirms of the cash needed to modernise networks, while the moreindustry-friendly proposals would take years to materialise.
"Let's stop talking about the package because in my view itis going to be largely irrelevant," he said, referring to theaim of catching up with the United States and Asia.
"We need to ... be a bit more entrepreneurial regardingconsolidation moves," he added at an industry conference held byETNO, the European telecommunications lobby, and the FinancialTimes.
Europe has fallen behind on building faster mobile andbroadband networks because major telecom firms face decliningsales and tough competition, prompting executives to call forconsolidation to return to growth.
Their position is supported by Kroes but she does notcontrol merger policy, which is handled by competitionregulators who are concerned that reducing the number carrierscould lead to higher prices for consumers.
Some EU member states, including Britain and France, as wellas some national regulators also have concerns over the reformpackage because it transfers more power to Brussels.
Kroes said operators should embrace her plan despite itstough medicine on roaming, saying it would "create a predictableenvironment for investment for the first time in years".
"My proposals are about making the pie bigger so let's notfight about the crumbs," she said at the conference.
Timotheus Hoettges, Deutsche Telekom's chief financialofficer, said Europe's telecom operators needed to grow viaacquisitions to have the scale to be able to invest in networks.
"We need new rules on competition and antitrust ... andthere should be complete deregulation in markets that arealready competitive," he said, adding that such ideas wereabsent from the Kroes plan.
The debate comes amid a rally in the shares of Europeantelecom stocks that are up 23 percent this year largely becauseof merger and acquisition fever, including major deals byVodafone in the United States and Germany and byTelefonica in Germany and Italy.
However operators are struggling to cash in on new fourthgeneration mobile technology and analysts see more revenuedeclines ahead.
A study commissioned by ETNO sees Europe's mobile and fixedrevenues declining 2 percent annually over the next decade.
