BEREC REPORT ON IMPACT OF FIXED-MOBILE ... - berec - Europa

BoR (11) 54
access than on fixed broadband access. If mobile and fixed broadband access were
close substitutes, they would be expected to show similar traffic patterns.
A first analysis of the parameters that may influence the trend toward FMS, based on
the available data, is developed in Annex 2.
5. FMS & MARKET DEFINITION BY NRAs
5.1. Practice and conclusions
The previous section noted that there are indications of FMS in some services for some
European countries. The existence of FMS leads us to question if fixed and mobile
services might “belong” to the same market. This section looks at how NRAs have
analysed the possibility of fixed and mobile services belonging to the same market. It
also aims to identify the sources used to gather the necessary information to perform
the substitution analysis.
As mentioned in the introduction, BEREC circulated a questionnaire to NRAs to gather
information on the issue of FMS in market definition. The evidence and conclusions
presented in this section are based on the responses to this questionnaire 30 .
The majority of the NRAs have already assessed whether a particular fixed and mobile
service was in the same market for voice and/or broadband. 88% of the NRAs that
perform market analysis have already analysed the possible integration of mobile and
fixed services in the same market at least once (either in retail or wholesale markets) 31 .
NRAs have analysed the possible integration of fixed and mobile services both in
retail and wholesale markets. The results of the questionnaire showed that 21 of the
22 NRAs who analysed whether fixed and mobile are in the same market have done so
in retail markets, while 17 of the 22 NRAs did so in wholesale markets. Some of the
NRAs noted that the wholesale market analysis was a consequence of the existence of
FMS at the retail level constraining the wholesale level, rather than as a consequence
of direct substitution at the wholesale level 32 .
The results show that NRAs questioned the possible integration of fixed and mobile
services, both at the retail and wholesale level, in the following areas: access to
telephone networks, voice and internet access related services 33 .
30 Namely on sections 1 (questions 1 to 5), 2 and 3 of the questionnaire.
31 As mentioned in the Introduction 26 NRAs answered to the questionnaire.
32 BEREC has already dealt with this issue in its Report on self-supply – BoR (10) 09: “A company providing inputs at the
wholesale level may be constrained “directly” at that level by other companies that are operating at the same level.
Alternatively, that company may be indirectly constrained by the “customers of their competitors” i.e. that company may
be indirectly constrained by competition that exists on the retail level”.
33 The answers received were grouped considering the services.
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