AccessMyLan

Leading European telecoms companies claimed during the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that they are in a position to fuel economic recovery if regulatory authorities, specifically the European commissioner for telecoms, stopped interfering and tried to create a more supportive, stable environment.  It was claimed that operator investments in high speed networks could create new employment and improve productivity which would help reactivate the economy but that these investments were being put in jeopardy by increased legislation and enforced reductions in call charges.   Read more plus further Financial Times reports from MWC09 here.

Meantime, there was a notable drop of 15% in visitors to the Mobile World Congress this year – an indication that advanced mobile services are not as critical in these recessional times? Would mobile operators be better advised to cut back on their own costs (such as participation in fairs like MWC or Cebit) before the crisis catches up on them too?

Personally I think operators should pay more attention to business users, such as myself, who only use voice, SMS and pushmail, as opposed to spending all their marketing effort on trying to sign up new users and extend their consumer content portfolios. In Spain most mobile phones are sold through retail outlets, yet information on business phones and data services is very poor and inconsistent.  For example, I recently tried to purchase a pay-as-you-go data card in Madrid and, after visiting three different stores, who told me three different stories, I was unable to purchase the modem unless I signed up for a new 18 month mobile (voice) contract, even though I already have a fixed line contract with this operator.  I didn’t go ahead with the purchase but left the store frustrated, having wasted 2 hours of my time. The operator missed a profitable sales opportunity and lost any customer loyalty they may have had.  I think the problem is that operator retail sales staff are primarily measured and incentivised for sales of handsets and voice plans, despite very limited growth and decreasing profit potential.  Surely the business market, which is less price sensitive and less susceptible to churn is worth taking better care of?

And how come I get charged 60cent to send an international text message from Spain, yet it only costs me 45 cents to send one when I am roaming? But at least Brussels is doing something about that one!