29.12.2005

FICORA analysed the national communications markets first in the European Union

The Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority (FICORA) is the first national authority in the European Union who has completed all market analyses in compliance with the new communications legislation and issued the necessary decisions on significant market power (SMP). The European Commission has defined altogether 18 product and service markets to be assessed by all European communications authorities.

FICORA has made 462 decision in total in the 18 product and service markets defined by the Commission. The number of SMP decisions is substantially higher than in other EU countries because of the exceptionally great number of telecommunications operators in the fixed network. A major part of the SMP decisions was made in 2004.

On 29 December 2005 FICORA issued its last SMP decision concerning international roaming. Agreements on roaming between mobile operators enable the use of mobile phones abroad.

No Finnish operator has SMP in the market for roaming

According to FICORA's assessment, no Finnish mobile network operator has significant market power in the market for international roaming, which means that no special regulation is needed in Finland at present. The average wholesale revenue obtained by Finnish operators from calls per minute is about 50% lower than the average wholesale prices paid by Finnish operators to foreign operators.

The competition between mobile operators has not yet materialised in the prices of international calls, but the operators have so far routed the traffic mainly to the networks of their primary roaming partners. Therefore, FICORA continues monitoring the evolution in the market for roaming. Respectively, the European Commission has, in its comments to FICORA on the matter, requested the Authority to follow up the development in prices and to reconsider the competitive situation in the market, unless the wholesale prices for roaming will decrease.

FICORA reminds that Finnish consumers may themselves affect their call charges abroad by selecting the most advantageous network available. According to a study made earlier this year, very few (3%) of consumers use their mobile phones to find out and to select the cheapest network. Information on the cheapest foreign operator is available at the website of the national mobile network operator.

Further information:
Ms Rauni Hagman, Director-General, tel. +358 9 6966 401, +358 40 561 3499
Ms Johanna Juusela, Deputy Director, tel. +358 9 6966 878, +358 40 542 7132

A summary of the study (in Finnish) [pdf, 147 KB]

The SMP decision [pdf, 118 KB]