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

BoR (11) 54
consequence, due to (mainly infrastructure-based) competitive pressure exerted by
cable network operators, mobile network operators and unbundling operators, RTR
considered that a trend towards effective competition could be identified in the
residential customers’ retail broadband access market. These findings led RTR to the
conclusion that only the wholesale broadband access market for bitstream connections
for the subsequent use of business customers may warrant ex ante regulation.
After the notification by RTR of the market definition for wholesale broadband access in
Austria, the European Commission expressed serious doubts as to the compatibility of
the notified measure with Community law. The inclusion of mobile broadband access in
the residential retail broadband access market was one of the points made by the
Commission in its serious doubts letter.
In order to address the serious doubts raised by the Commission, RTR submitted
additional information during the investigation period to its notified draft measure. The
European Commission then, while stressing that fixed and mobile retail broadband
services do not normally belong to the same relevant market, withdrew its serious
doubts on the basis of circumstances closely related to the Austrian market. The
residential broadband retail market in Austria thus includes both fixed and mobile
services.
2.2. Scope of analysis
As indicated above, analysis will be focused on two patterns of FMS:
mobile voice services becoming substitutes for traditional fixed voice services;
mobile broadband services becoming substitutes for traditional fixed broadband
services.
Other patterns of FMS may occur or be envisaged but will not be specifically
considered in this report 5 .
Distinction between mobile and fixed services
The development of convergent devices, networks or services – analysed in the
previous works of BEREC and IRG – tends to blur the boundary between fixed and
mobile services. In “basic situations”, the distinction between fixed and mobile services
is obvious:
5 One might for instance envisage that mobile TV services (3G or DVB-H) become substitutes to fixed TV services
(through DSL or satellite or terrestrial TV). A DSL operator may also, through the sharing of its customers Wi-Fi
connections, offer a broad data coverage (at least in urban area) that might be regarded as a substitute for mobile
broadband (through 3G networks).
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