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Open EU Telecoms Market?

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  • 03-02-2015 4:56pm
    #1
    goose06
    Registered Users Posts: 741 ✭✭✭


    Does anyone know if there is anything in the pipeline for an open telecoms market in the EU. What I mean is that I could buy a French\Spanish mobile plan from a French/Spanish provider as an Irish customer. Obviously all the Voice & Data roaming will have to be abolished before this is of benefit to me.


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    #2
    Mr. G
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 4,621 Mod ✭✭✭✭Mr. G


    I feel roaming charges (in particular data) should be abolished completely and that consumers are charged as they are at home. The problem is that we have a number of mobile networks (O2/3, Vodafone, Meteor) all with their own masts. For competition and also to improve network connectivity, obviously these aren't shared, and they shouldn't be. How this would be applied with roaming agreements is difficult due to contracts between providers.

    Once this happens, there is no reason why you couldn't use another provider (as we are in the EU all consumers are treated the same regardless of country, so what a French consumer can get, you can too). Mobile porting would be an issue though.

    It will be a long time until we get there, the porting will be an issue. I foresee Ireland & the UK providers being more open, same goes for French and Germany first.

    Just my 2c.


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    #3
    blindsider
    Registered Users Posts: 2,016 ✭✭✭blindsider


    Hard to see how this will ever really happen TBH.

    Licences are issued on a country basis, and the operator's will (justifiably?) argue that paying for a country license allows them to earn revenue - in that country.

    A pan-European license wuld be the solution, but I can't see it being allowed TBH - too many vested interests etc.

    The one positive is technology - wifi penetration could mean that in e.g. 5 yrs, few people will buy network voice minutes or texts, we'll buy a phone on PAYG and use wifi - then, you could be anywhere.

    Why would you want to buy the phone in e.g. Spain? Is it for the cheaper prices?

    A PAYG phone (SIM free) might be an option - some are fairly reasonably priced:

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Motorola-5-Inch-SIM-Free-Smartphone-XT1068-Black/dp/B00NBSZ56C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423093914&sr=8-1&keywords=sim+free+moto+g

    (you'd probably find this phone a bit cheaper if you looked harder than I have!)


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    #4
    Mr. G
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 4,621 Mod ✭✭✭✭Mr. G


    I see mobile going VoIP with the rollout of 4G (and 5G) so that will tell a lot. With Viber/WhatsApp etc IM already has (even Irish people are sending less texts now).

    There is a problem with regulations also as in some countries, you have to have an address there to get a phone number (in Ireland, to get a Geographic number you have to have an address), so that would need to be sorted. I think roaming is the primary thing the EU are concerned about.

    Even if you could use a Spanish provider at home, they're not in Ireland so most people would just go with the likes of 3/Vodafone/Meteor since they're based here.


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