Roaming rules could take their toll on revenues

Regulation due to come into force by this summer to cut roaming charges by up to 70% could deprive operators of €7 billion in revenue a year.

Regulation due to come into force by this summer to cut roaming charges by up to 70% could deprive operators of €7 billion in revenue a year.

Revenue from non-voice services such as text messages has been rising although the take-up of 3G services (allowing added value services such as television to be received on mobiles) has been slow across the EU as a whole. Only an estimated 15% of all mobile phone users have a 3G phone although there are some exceptions. Italy has around 12 million 3G subscribers, compared to only 2.6 million in 2004.

In terms of regulation of the sector, the report says consumers are increasingly able to retain their mobile numbers when they switch operators, a key factor in encouraging users to shop around for the cheapest provider. In Denmark, Spain, Sweden and Finland so-called ported numbers were 20% of the total subscriber base, while there has been significant growth in ported numbers in Estonia, Greece, France, Ireland, Lithuania and Luxembourg.

Despite the progress in lowering mobile phone prices through increased competition and the impending legislation to cut roaming charges, EU Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding highlighted a number of problems in the sector which she would seek to address in the forthcoming overhaul of regulation of the electronic communication sector. These included a lack of truly independent national regulators, especially in Poland and Slovakia, delays in imposing remedies to competition problems and a fragmented approach to radio spectrum managements which was holding back the economic potential for services using spectrum.

Regulation due to come into force by this summer to cut roaming charges by up to 70% could deprive operators of €7 billion in revenue a year.

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