Mobile Operators - The Pricing of Calls to Mobiles

The charges imposed by the mobile operators for handling incoming calls are a very important part of their revenue stream. The UK telecoms regulator is attempting to force the networks to reduce their prices significantly. The row has just been referred to the UK competition authorities. We look at the arguments used by Oftel to justify its harsh stance. We conclude that the evidence supports the regulator's view that incoming call charges are held artificially high. As a result, analysts should expect that the UK networks will fail to see the charge cap reversed. The impact on revenue will be about 7% in the next four-year period. This will flow straight to the profit line. Increases in fixed to mobile call volumes, as a result of the lower prices, will partly offset this.

Wanadoo's aim of being the #2 broadband ISP in Europe (behind T-Online, way ahead) was adversely affected in Q1 2002 by the decision of the French Competition Commission to halt the marketing of the company's product through the network of France Telecom, so other ISPs can also have a chance to establish a foothold. Wanadoo has had to resort to other, more expensive, marketing platforms, and sales are running at about 70% of the pace before the decision. Wanadoo is also looking for a strong showing on broadband from Freeserve, just entering the market now: 70,000 broadband subscribers by year-end, and a quarter million by mid-2003. We are sceptical whether the brand can shake its reputation for cheap Internet service, which continues to attract a large PAYG base.