EU telecoms commissioner upbeat on reform progress
When Neelie Kroes, the EU’s telecoms commissioner, proposed last year to end roaming fees as part of her reforms to create a single European telecoms and digital market, she was met with stiff opposition from mobile operators.
Stéphane Richard, chief executive of France’s Orange, was among the senior European telecoms executives who claimed that scrapping roaming charges would cost them €7bn in lost “roaming” customer charges, deepening the woes of a sector already struggling with under-investment.
Almost a year on, however, Ms Kroes is in an upbeat mood as she prepares to attend Mobile World Congress, the industry’s biggest trade show, at the end of February.
“A year ago the sector was bleeding. But we’ve seen real progress. National leaders are signed up to the need for change and the MEPs are working like hell to agree to reform,” she told the Financial Times.
One of the reasons for her optimism is a change of heart by Mr Richard. Despite his earlier criticism, Orange recently became the latest operator in France to announce plans to scrap the additional charges for cross border mobile usage.
“Orange shares its customers’ conviction that using a mobile phone abroad should be worry free,” said Mr Richard in a statement last month. “[The] initiatives are designed to deliver on that promise, removing the need for many of our frequent roamers to even think about taking out a separate bundle.”
Ms Kroes said that mobile networks were waking up to the fact that charging more for cross-border calls made little business sense when most consumers simply turn off their phones to avoid the costs.
A survey by the EU of 28,000 people across Europe showed that nearly half of respondents avoided using mobile data when travelling in another country of the 28-nation bloc and a third never made phones calls due to roaming charges.
Ms Kroes called the results of the survey, which will be published on Monday, a “sort of boardroom nightmare”.
“You’ve got millions of businesses paying over the odds. What if you’re making a travel guide app – how are you supposed to sell it when everyone has their phone off? You can’t.”
This year’s Mobile World Congress may well be Ms Kroes’ last as EU telecoms commissioner given that her four-year term ends this year. But she believes her exit will be on a high note.
“Companies like Orange and Iliad have seen the light on roaming. 4G rollout is moving ahead. Telco share prices are up and the app sector is booming. Now isn’t the time to be complacent. Now is the time to finish the job.”