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

2. INTRODUCTION
BoR (11) 54
A number of factors have made fixed-mobile convergence an increasingly prominent
topic for electronic communication markets. For example:
the development of new services available on fixed and mobile networks;
new technologies improving the performance of mobile networks;
new devices adapted to both fixed and mobile usages;
new commercial offers and usage habits; and
lower mobile termination rates.
ERG and BEREC analysed convergence in 2009 1 and 2010 2 , defining it generally as
“the technological improvements by which a number of networks arise with enhanced
capabilities to provide multiple services”. This implies, at the same time, that one
service may be provided over a number of different networks.” Furthermore,
“Convergence at the network level can be understood as being able to offer a customer
mobile and fixed (or fixed-like) services seamlessly by integrating fixed and mobile
networks” 3 .
Due to the above-mentioned transformations and technological improvements,
convergence has lead, in some cases, to increased FMS which led the regulators to
question if fixed and mobile services should belong to the same relevant market. In
some cases this has led to important shifts in the approach to regulating traditional
fixed markets where market failures are observed.
This increase in FMS has occurred mainly in voice and broadband services and at the
retail level. This report will therefore mainly focus on an analysis in these areas.
This report does not try to perform FMS analysis or reach any conclusion regarding
including fixed and mobile services in the same relevant market, as it deems this to be
the remit of NRAs at the national level.
Within the perspective of the next round of market analysis, this report gathers
information from available studies on the subject matter and from the submission of 26
NRAs that responded to a questionnaire (cf. Annex 3).
On the back of available information this report aims to:
provide guidance on the information that may be used by NRAs to analyse the
possible integration of fixed and mobile services in the same market; and
1
ERG – March 2009 – Report on fixed-mobile convergence: implications on competition and regulatory aspects.
2
BEREC – December 2010 – BEREC report on convergent services.
3
This report does not aim to assess the impact of convergent products for the purpose of market definition.
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