Communications Regulatory Authority

when foreign mobile operators’ users receive a call in Italy, Italian operators are paid
the conventional mobile termination rate by international transit operators which handle
international transport on behalf of foreign mobile operators.
Moreover, as voice and SMS-like data services are bought on the wholesale
market on a bundle basis, they are considered to be falling within the same wholesale
inbound roaming market. Finally, in abidance by the principle of technological
neutrality pursuant to the new regulatory framework, AGCOM believed voice services
provided on 2G and 3G networks should be considered as part of the same relevant
product market.
AGCOM then concluded that the wholesale market for international roaming
services for mobile networks is the nationwide market for services supplied to foreign
mobile network operators in order to allow their users to originate calls and send SMS
by using all Italian operators’ 2G and 3G mobile networks.
In assessing the single dominance AGCOM considered market shares held by working
operators, as well as other qualitative and quantitative indicators. With respect to market
shares no operator reached such a share, within the analysis period, as to be identified as
holding a dominance position.
Barriers to entry into the market turned out to be very high, due to the licence
requirement and to the significant investments linked to the development and
commercial roll-out of a mobile 2G or 3G network wide enough to allow covering the
Italian territory.
On the other hand, the substantial homogeneity of services offered by Italian operators,
together with the maturity of 2G and 3G technologies, do not seem to lend any
advantages or technological superiority to any operator in particular. Moreover, the
wide availability of traffic redirection techniques enables operators that buy
international roaming services to exert a counter purchasing power.
These considerations have led to believe that none of the operators working on
the wholesale national market for international roaming services for mobile public
telephone networks individually enjoys a significant market power.
In order to assess the existence of collective dominance positions criteria were used
which are listed in Annex II to the general policy directive, as they are considered to be
fit for the analysis of the competitive framework of the market being examined. In
particular, products homogeneity, the similarity of cost structures and market shares, the
absence of technological innovation and the maturity of technologies were taken into
account.
From the assessment of said criteria such facts emerged as made it possible to
assume the existence of a joint dominance in the form of tacit coordination. At this
point, it was believed to be fair to verify whether such an assessment was in line with
the Commission’s decision-making procedure and with the Court’s case law. To that
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