GSMA Calls for Ombudsman to Investigate Adoption of Roaming Regulation
21 September 2006
21st September 2006 - London: The GSM Association, the global trade association for mobile operators, has filed a complaint with the European Ombudsman setting out its concerns about the European Commission's proposal for regulation of the international roaming market. The GSMA's complaint relates to three aspects of the regulation and the associated adoption process:
1) The GSMA believes the European Commission failed to conduct a proper consultation process. While the Commission conducted two public consultations on regulation of the international roaming market, they both failed to follow the Commission's own procedures for providing clear content and adequate time for responses. Moreover, following these 'public consultations', the Commission drastically changed its proposal for regulation without submitting the new proposal to additional public consultation.
2) The GSMA believes the European Commission failed to conduct a proper impact assessment. The published impact assessment, which didn't follow the Commission's internal guidelines, is incomplete, contains important methodological flaws and is based on unrealistic assumptions. For example, the Commission concluded that consumers would see a net gain of 3.78 billion euros* from the proposed regulation. But a review of the Commission's impact assessment, prepared for the GSMA by AT Kearney and CRA International, found that the impact on consumer welfare would be marginal at best, and could even be negative. For more information please see www.gsmworld.com.
3) The GSMA believes the European Commission's proposed regulation violates the principles of proportionality, subsidiarity, legitimate expectations and non-discrimination. The holistic nature of the existing regulatory framework restricts the Commission's ability to adopt an ad hoc regulation on roaming services.
"The adoption of arbitrary regulation without proper review and consultation will undermine investors' confidence in the European Union," said Tom Phillips, Chief Government and Regulatory Affairs Officer at the GSMA. "It is beholden on the European Commission to present a clear and compelling case for the proposed roaming regulation before intervening in the competitive and innovative mobile market."
The GSMA hopes that an investigation by the European Ombudsman will prompt the European Commission to reconsider its proposed regulation of roaming services in the context of its 2006 review of the broader regulatory framework.
Notes to editors:
*Relative to a no policy change scenario, which assumes roaming tariffs continue to fall as the result of market forces.
The European Ombudsman investigates complaints about maladministration by the institutions and bodies of the European Community. If the Ombudsman upholds a complaint, it can make recommendations about how to put the maladministration right. For more information, please see http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/home/en/default.htm
The GSM Association (GSMA) is the global trade association representing more than 690 GSM mobile phone operators across 214 countries of the world. In addition, more than 180 manufacturers and suppliers support the Association's initiatives as key partners.
The primary goals of the GSMA are to ensure mobile phones and wireless services work globally and are easily accessible, enhancing their value to individual customers and national economies, while creating new business opportunities for operators and their suppliers. The Association's members serve more than two billion customers - 82% of the world's mobile phone users.
For further information contact:
Mark Smith/David Pringle
GSM Association
/ +44 795 755 6069
Email:press@gsm.org
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