Informa: SMS prices for EU roamers up to 75% higher than in 2006
By Dusan Belic on Sunday, July 13th, 2008 at 3:57 AM PST In Research
The European Commission will most probably impose price cuts on SMS roaming following the failure of mobile operators to make voluntary price cuts before the July 1st deadline.
EU Commissioner Vivien Reding warned operators in February that without these price cuts, she would have no choice but to propose more regulatory intervention.
According to Informa Telecoms & Media, despite a last-minute tariff changes from the likes of T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) and Telefonica (NYSE: TEF), SMS prices for EU roamers are still up to 75% higher than in 2006. But not all is black. For one thing, rates for non-messaging data roaming fell 20% on average over the same period and continue on a downward trend as more operators launch bundled and day-rate packages.
Informa’s research analyst Angela Stainthorpe argues that SMS roaming is a strong candidate for another round of regulation. “Operators have been noticeably willing to bend to the EU’s will regarding non-messaging data, which includes mobile broadband services for laptop users, but have left SMS to the mercy of the regulators,” she added.
Revenues from non-voice roaming by EU subscribers travelling in the EU will more than double between 2008 and 2013, reaching 1.1 billion EUR by the end of the period. Non-messaging data roaming revenue will grow on average 26% per year, while at the same time, SMS revenues will experience a 7% annual growth.
More information about Informa’s report titled “Global Mobile Roaming: Operator Strategies and Market Trends (3rd edition)” is available from here.
