Ilmarinen,
<<EU market(+ some "old time stories") >>
I enjoyed the stories and your perspective (which is kind of the way I had interpreted European cellular history although I had never visited there till 1994 and I have yet to visit the Scandinavian countries but will some day).
A few comments back and a story or two of my own.
<< The important EU thing is that every square meter should have 4-5 competing carriers to ensure competition, avoid regional defacto monopolies. (just to reiterate in more detail) >>
Appears to me to work great.
<< Roaming should be cheaper by having the large operators with EU-wide coverage, but is OK now to pick extra money from the traveling businessman, the industry, as well as having tourists doing the same in poorer nations,etc. >>
As it should be. The "traveling businessman" from overseas and "tourists" should and can foot the big bill. There is (and should be) a price to pay for the convenience of mobility, and there have been big bucks invested in the roaming capability we enjoy, that deserve to be compensated, and deserve to have good solid margins to build out to the next level.
AT&T realized this early on, and supplied a SIM, and built roaming infrastructure as early as 1995, even though their technology did not use SIM. The GSM carriers used the capability to patch together some semblance of a national footprint, before they had a national footprint, and to supplement revenues.
George Schmitt of Omnipoint (who previously had launched D2 in Germany) assured that happened. Gretal Hoffmann (then of Bell South) as well.
The spirit of coopetition evidenced by GSM carriers in Europe, made GSM, bigger, better, quicker, than many people realize.
<< This reminds me of what telecom in europe was before EU >>
I've read the stories. We were pretty seamless (and very expensive) early on with our massive single technology cellular buildout and the monopolistic "B" carriers (RBOCs) who reaped real profit from very high tarriffs.
We are now going through what Europe did earlier (breakup, M&A, etc. - although not of course privatization).
<< For Nokia this was especially critical as the domestic market was not enough as a platform >>
Nokia is quite a story in the last decade and it is true that the average American thinks they are a Japanese company (as I once did).
<< EU everything changed, for the first time there was a 200-300 million pop. market open for good products and mass production, similar to that of USA. >>
Similar now, indeed, to the USA. Necessary evolution.
<< Bottom line is that the EU market ... in no case is this, or should be, a question of "destructive competition" >>
Agreed.
<< So just to ramble on, maybe this will, still, be the first time in history when a deep (destructive) recession is avoided >>
Would that not be nice.
Quick story for you.
About 18 months ago I made a presentation to worldwide management of the telecom division of a European computer company and stayed on for their workshop.
My presentation was on the evolution of mobile wireless telephony in the US (a subject that Europeans really scratch their heads about - spectrum auctions - well they now know about that, MTA's, BTA's RSA's MSA's, 5 technologies, etc). One topic I covered was our rate plans - I used AT&T's revolutionary (at the time it was released) tiered plan, and Bell Atlantic's (at that time) untiered plan.
Many of the Europeans (and Asians) commented at lunch or dinners that followed on the exorbitant rates we paid (they should have seen it before PCS was introduced in late 1995 - cellular was a luxury item).
On my final morning I breakfasted with several Scandinavians staying at my hotel and we got back into discussion (a little deeper) as to what they paid (and received in return) compared to me (or us Americans), particularly when roaming. Most Americans would be astounded.
As you know, I use CDMA nationally here in the US because of coverage. No carrier here (except for AWS) matches Verizon (and part of that is the AMPS fallback for both).
The worst annoyance I have is that I have to maintain a separate subscription with a GSM carrier for roaming. Some people feel roaming charges are excessive. I do not (and my company does not although they ask us all to be judicious). Their IS a price for mobility and I am glad to pay it. I would pay it if i ran my own company and was not reimbursed. I look forward to the day I have one number portability.
Have a great weekend.
- Eric - |
