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| Tuesday, 17 June 2008 | |
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What got Viviane in a lather…
Yesterday we reported that EC Commissioner for the Information Society and Media Viviane Reding was distinctly under-whelmed by the GSMA’s new statistics relating to roaming data and SMS charges. Here (extracted from the GSMA press release) is some of what seems to have riled the Commissioner: ‘The EU's mobile data market grew by 40% to €7bn in 2007 as operators invested more than €20bn in enhancing their mobile networks and services, according to research by Wireless Intelligence and consultancy AT Kearney for the GSMA, the global body for the mobile industry. In the year to April 2008, the number of 3G users in the EU doubled to 112mn. ‘Moreover, AT Kearney estimates that the average retail price of data roaming, which enable travellers to access multimedia services using a mobile phone or laptop, fell by 25% in the year to April 2008 in the EU and that EU data roaming traffic grew 75% over the same period. AT Kearney also estimates that the average price of text messaging roaming services fell 18% in the year to April 2008.’ A footnote to the GSMA text added: ‘The data also shows that the average retail price of sending a text message while roaming within the EU was 28 eurocents in the first quarter of 2008 compared with 31 eurocents for the sample in the fourth quarter of 2007.’ Reding, looking at the fall in the roamed per SMS price from January to now – she cited 29 eurocents to 28 eurocents – was ‘not impressed’. Incidentally, yesterday the Telekom Austria Group announced that its mobile subsidiary mobilkom And that was before Meantime, here’s what Reding (a.k.a. Viv the Impaler) made of the rejection by the 27 telecoms ministers of her plans for a powerful central regional industry regulator. Although reporting some progress towards agreement on the use of the penalty of functional separation for badly behaved incumbents, the continued use of access regulation to remove competition bottlenecks, and more regional regulatory consistency, Reding observed: “I also note, however, that all ministers want something smaller than I proposed.” The word ‘milquetoasts’’ did not appear in the Commissioner’s account of the meeting of the EU telecom ministers. John Williamson |
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