With the 1990 Political Agreement on the Telecommunications Structure, the framework of liberalization in Denmark until January 1, 1994 was established. Also, it was decided that further liberalization of telecommunications until March 1, 1997 was to be agreed between the parties. Since this agreement, the telecommunications sector has experienced radical development. New transmission forms, including both radio and cable-based, were introduced at a quick pace and telecommunication has increasingly been used for IT purposes. The Second Supplementary Agreement on Liberalization after January 1, 1994 defined sectors of further liberalization. It was decided that the exclusive right of providing services previously monopolized by Tele Danmark should be restricted. Nevertheless, Tele Danmark continues to hold the exclusive right of providing public telephone service. (The Minister for Research, Denmark)

The principal aim of the deregulation efforts of the Danish telecommunications industry is for the country to enjoy the world's best and cheapest telecommunications services. The general principals of the new regulation efforts are as follows (Ministry of Research, Annex V):

• Legislation should reflect the political aim of guaranteeing all users continued access to certain basic telecommunications services at steadily falling maximum prices, thus giving the message to the rest of the world of "best practice."
• Further, important consumer interests, such as improved consumer protection with regard to billing, complaints procedures, etc., should be considered.
• General legislation on competition and consumer protection should be given higher priority, combined with the necessary regulation specific to the sector.
• Regulation specific to the sector should be introduced to ensure the following:
• That Tele Danmark's minor and/or new competitor and others are given real competition potentials; and,
• Access (given to new providers of telecommunications infrastructure) to limited resources, such as radio frequencies, right of way, etc.

Second only to the United Kingdom, the Denmark leads the European liberalization process of the telecommunications market. The Danish government is bound by the EU Resolution on Liberalization of the Telecommunication Sectors according to which public telephone services shall be liberalized by January 1, 1998. On April 6, 1995, the government coalition and the opposition reached political agreement on the continued liberalization process. With the objective of gradually creating effective competition in the Danish telecommunications sector, the agreement provides for the following:

• Permits establishment of a second "conventional" nationwide telephone company by January 1, 1998, to compete with the national "Teledanmark" company (the likely process will be via public tender, for which U.S. companies will be eligible to participate).
• Teledanmark lost its monopoly on establishing broadband networks in local areas (within municipal borders) as of July 1, 1995 and on nationwide networks as of January 1, 1998.
• Ownership restrictions on communal antenna systems will be abolished (implications for cable TV)
• The hybrid (broadband) network will be made available to private companies, allowing players other than Teledanmark to provide cable TV and other cable services.

Further discussion of such objectives is warranted.

The exclusive right held by Tele Danmark of transmitting radio and TV programming in the nationwide telecommunications network will be lifted to allow unrestricted transmission of radio and TV programming. Transmissions will be made via leased lines from Tele Danmark, or provision of services based on the use of such lines. Concurrently, the restrictions in force with regard to ownership access to community antenna systems will be lifted; hence, future systems may be owned by private organizations. The monopolized infrastructure of the hybrid network will be combined with the remaining infrastructure of the public telecommunications network and, together with the broadband element, will constitute "the electronic highway." As a consequence of unrestricted ownership access to community antenna systems, the same company may engage in many different aspect of the radio and TV field. (The Minister for Research, Denmark)

The liberalization of local broadband networks comprises existing and new community antenna systems that may then be used for the transmission of telecommunications services. All telecommunications services, including telephone, may be provided via the broadband networks even though traditionally they have been provided by narrowband connections. This liberalization covers only broadband networks in local areas, as defined as municipalities. As a general rule, new broadband services will be regulated according to existing telecommunications legislation. For telecommunications services comparable to television, such as video-on-demand and tele-shopping, a statutory basis will be created to regulate the availability and contents of such services in accordance with other legislation, such as radio and television. (The Minister for Research, Denmark)

With the already liberalized use of leased lines for telecommunications purposes which will be further extended due to the liberalized transmission of radio and TV programming via the telecommunications network, broadband capacity may be "resold" or otherwise shared by users. Hence, the lower broadband prices will contribute to reduce costs payable by users of narrowband services, especially of the 2 Mbit/s category. As discussed below, such results are already being experienced. (The Minister for Research, Denmark)

From the time when full liberalization of the telecommunications market has been implemented, Tele Danmark, along with other programming carriers such as Stofa, will be allowed to transmit programming by satellite and cable, or they will be permitted to get involved in such activities through joint-venture arrangement. Certainly, within the European Community, consumers have been the greatest beneficiaries as a result of the liberalization of the telecom market. The effect of privatization and competition on the telephone industry within the entire European Community can be seen in figure 1. Such widespread benefits of privatization are fully expected in Denmark. 

Cellular telephones must be type-approved by the National Telecom Agency or any participating 3^rd-country GSM authority. The NTA is also the point of contact for information regarding approval procedures. Technical specifications for GSM-related equipment, including cellular telephones, may be obtained from the European Telecommunications Standard Institute (ETSI) in Nice, France, or from the National Telecom Agency. Once a cellular telephone for the GSM system has obtained type approval by one of the GSM countries, the approval is valid for all countries participating in the GSM system. The Nordic countries apply a similar reciprocal approval procedure for cellular telephones for the NMT system. GSM and NMT must be marked in accordance with type approval requirements. (USDOC, International Trade Administration)

Danish telecom prices are among the lowest in the world. In the OECD rating, Denmark is consistently among the 4 best countries out of the 24 included in the statistics. However, with regard to actual prices, Denmark is further down the list and local calls are among the highest in Europe. During the years of 1984 to 1994, the price of telecom services was reduced by 17% in constant prices, as shown in figure 2. Corrected for inflation, the telecom price index has dropped from index 100 in 1984 to 83 in 1994. As shown in figure 3 and figure 4, of selected countries Denmark ranks third for offering the cheapest prices for business telephoning and fourth for household telephoning, respectively.

The Ministry of Research and Information Technology considers Denmark to have what may be the world's lowest nationwide unit prices in the broadband market. In 1994 Denmark was second lowest for 9.6 Kbit/s and 64 Kbit/s, and third lowest for 1.5/2.0 Mbit/s. Further, since 1994 there have been sharp price decreases in this particular market. For broadband connections (greater than 2 Mbit/s) prices were reduced by 65% in the summer of 1995. Such decreases also effect the prices of 2 Mbit/s connections, which have subsequently dropped by 10%. With regard to mobile telephones, Denmark ranks third in the European Community, as shown in table 1. In 1996, the cost for a connection cost was DKK 900 and DKK 2.35 per minute during the day and 1.17 per minute in the evening. During leisure time and non-business hours, prices are as low as 0.70 per minute. Further evidence of Denmark's competitive pricing in the cellular market is a report entitled European Cellular Tariffs, which calculates that a cellular telephone subscriber in Denmark, Finland, Norway or Sweden pays a total price for his or her service that is between a third and a half of that paid by a comparable subscriber in France or Germany. Also, it is reported that the Danish operator Sonofon has the cheapest cellular telephone services in absolute terms both for high users (defined as those making an average of 150 minutes-worth of calls a month) and for low users (defined as those making 50 minutes of calls a month). The average yearly cost of buying and using a cellular telephone from Sonofon is $708 for a high user (measured over the first three years of service). For a light user, the average yearly cost is $318. (FinTech Telecom Markets, 1994)

For more information regarding information on license requirements and fees of telecommunications networks and services, please visit the following site: http://www.eto.dk/pages/denmark.htm#seventeen

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