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Mobile firms 'winning the war' with fixed line rivals
"Why have a landline when you can just have a mobile phone instead?" seems to be a question that more and more Europeans are asking, according to new research.
The European Commission's survey of 27,000 homes in the 27-nation bloc discovered that 24 per cent were using mobiles only. The new trend is even more pronounced in the ten ex-communist new member states where 39 per cent have consigned their old-style telephones to the dustbin of history. Reuters press agency has concluded that governments there have found it cheaper to make the transition to mobile rather than upgrading old fixed-line networks. It could also be that administrations in these countries are frustrated with the expense of maintaining state-owned landline companies. So why is the EC taking such a keen interest in mobile phones? Well its involvement in the industry is now nothing new and the research is likely to justify its war on so-called unfair charges being imposed on consumers by unscrupulous companies. Top of the list of pet hates of EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding is 'roaming' charges - the extra charge that appears on your bill if you have the temerity to use your phone to text, call or use the internet while abroad. Ms Reding gave the mobile companies a deadline of July 1st to voluntarily reduce roaming charges, and she has given herself a deadline of July 18th to consider whether the industry's price cuts are sufficient or whether industry regulation is needed. Analysts seem certain that a cap will be put on roaming text charges but that data usage charges will be left alone by EC rule makers. The mobile market might be required to make price cuts regardless of Ms Reding's intervention - the EC survey found that a fifth of the community's citizens are now making calls over the internet, potentially threatening mobile network operators' revenue streams. Industry News News posted on 04/07/2008 11:26:16 Have your say!Camera phone war hots up
The mobile camera phone war is hotting up - three new snap-happy phones are to be launched soon.
Sport dominates the mobile games chart
Sport continues to dominate the top 20 global mobile games chart compiled by GameMobile website.
Olympics boosts mobile TV
Mobile TV was one of the big winners to emerge from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, according to new figures.
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