The interconnection of networks represents a fundamental precondition for consumers, undertakings and organisations to reach each other. PTS wants to prevent operators charging excessive prices for services that they sell to each other and that are required for interconnection to function. Improved competition between operators in the market is expected to result in greater freedom of choice and lower mobile telephony prices for consumers.
There have been similar rules for major mobile operators since 2004, but PTS now proposes that additional operators should be covered by these rules. The operators that PTS proposes should continue to have obligations in the market include Hi3G, Tele 2, Telenor and TeliaSonera. New operators that did not previously have obligations have been added: AINMT (Icenet), Lycamobile, Spring Mobil, TDC and Ventelo.
PTS will conduct an active dialogue with the market stakeholders within the framework of its work on new obligation decisions. This first consultation will last up to and including 17 May. A hearing will be held on 26 April during the course of this consultation.
A final decision for the markets of voice call termination in individual mobile networks will be made by PTS by the end of 2010 at the earliest. The European Commission and other regulatory authorities within the EU will need to be consulted before a final decision is made.
PTS made a decision in 2004 and 2005 on the obligations that currently apply in the electronic communications market. PTS is now implementing a second generation of market analyses and obligation decisions. Seven sub-markets are being analysed in this second round.
For more information, please contact
Mr. David Troëng, Head of the Competition Department, ph: +46 (0)70-861 72 19
PTS press office, ph: +46 (0)8 678 55 55
The proposal (available in Swedish only)
What is the problem in the mobile voice call termination market?
Each operator, since they control access to their end users, has a monopoly on terminating calls to its own end users. A competing operator has consequently no other choice than to send a call to the network of the operator where the end user is located. This monopoly situation creates incentives for operators to charge each other the highest price possible when they terminate calls in their own network. These high prices have a negative impact on competitors and ultimately the competitors' end users.
Another problem is that there is a considerable price difference between terminating in fixed and mobile networks; it is currently around ten times more expensive to terminate in mobile networks. This favours major mobile operators while being unfavourable to small mobile operators and fixed network operators.
The Swedish Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) monitors the electronic communications and postal sectors in Sweden. The term ‘electronic communications’ includes telephony, the Internet and radio. The Agency works with consumer and competition issues, efficient utilisation of resources and secure communications. Read more at www.pts.se.