European Telecoms Market too Fragmented, EC Report
Telecoms users and the EU economy as a whole are denied the full economic benefits of a truly single and competitive EU-wide telecoms market because of inconsistent application of EU telecoms rules, according to an annual report on the Single European Electronic Communications Market.
Telecommunications users in the EU have to deal with a patchwork of 27 different markets. Although most of them have become more competitive, they remain national in dimension. Moreover, the level of competitiveness varies strongly between EU countries.
Major price differences still exist both at retail and wholesale levels. Retail mobile prices in the most expensive countries are substantially higher than in the cheapest. A mobile user in Latvia pays EUR 0.04 per minute compared with 0.24 in Malta.
Inconsistent implementation of existing EU rules fragments telecoms markets along national borders, denying businesses access to a genuine single market. NRAs often delay, sometimes by years, the enforcement of EU rules.
The fact that each member state has its own radio spectrum allocations and legacy infrastructure issues also differentiates them.
In wholesale broadband markets, some national regulators control the fiber networks of the incumbent operators, while others limit regulation to the old copper-based technology. Regulation of wholesale broadband markets shapes the competitive landscape and so determines the price and quality of broadband products available to consumers and businesses.
Consistent application of telecoms rules is needed to foster the roll-out of investment-intensive infrastructure such as NGA networks.
Although the telecoms market has done well to sustain its size during 2009 in the face of an overall economic decline, the EC expects things would be better if NRAs didn’t force operators to address 27 different markets rather than deploying services across national borders. “Consistent enforcement of existing rules and investment in innovative services hold the key to future growth.”
Read the full press release.
Download the full report, breakdowns per country and more.
Source: EC
Download the INTUG paper International Mobile Services and the Multinational Customer – A Dysfunctional Market.
