28.05.2009

Major drop in European mobile call prices - prices in Finland slightly higher than last year

According to a price basket survey commissioned by the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority (FICORA), mobile call prices in European countries have fallen by 14 to 27 per cent during the past year, whereas in Finland, the prices have risen by 2 to 3 per cent. However, domestic mobile call prices of Finnish mobile operators are still among the least expensive in Europe and Finland retained its position as having the lowest mobile broadband prices in Europe. The survey included the old EU Member States (the EU-15), Estonia, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. The survey has been conducted since 2001.

The survey was conducted by comparing three price baskets depicting the habits of different user groups. In each price basket, three largest mobile operators in terms of number of subscriptions were chosen from each country. The average prices are based on the operators' most inexpensive subscriptions and are weighted by the market shares of the companies.

Mobile phone service prices in Finland below the European average

Finland was ranked as the fifth least expensive country in each price basket category. Finland was clearly among the least expensive countries as its prices in the three price baskets were about 50 per cent less expensive than the average of the reference group. In the least expensive price basket (150 call minutes and 100 text messages per month), the value of Finland's price basket was 13.08 euros. Iceland had the lowest prices (10.81/mo.). Its price basket dropped by 55 % from the previous year mainly due to the devaluation of its currency in comparison to the euro.

In addition, mobile broadband prices were compared in the survey. Finland has the lowest rates for fixed-price mobile broadbands. The average price of a mobile broadband in Finland was 9.84 euros per month. The average of all countries in the survey amounted to 34.65 euros per month.

FICORA's survey was carried out by Pöyry Telecom Oy. The price information was collected from the websites of the operators and other public sources. The information was gathered in April 2009 and indicates the rates valid on 1 April 2009.

Survey [PDF, 383 KB]

Further information:

Torsti Alhava, Communications Market Specialist, tel. +358 9 6966 461, +358 50 514 8285
Joonas Orkola, Communications Market Specialist, tel. +358 9 6966 734, +358 40 468 6018