GSMA CALLS ON EUROPEAN COMMISSION TO TAKE BOLD STEPS TO CLOSE MOBILE INVESTMENT GAP

London: Tom Phillips, Chief Government and Regulatory Affairs Officer, GSMA, offered the following statement on roaming regulation in response to Commissioner Kroes’ address to the European Parliament on Thursday, 30 May:

“Last week, the GSMA issued a major report in association with Navigant Economics that highlighted that Europe’s mobile market has fallen significantly behind that of the United States. If not addressed, the stalling of mobile investment and innovation in Europe will be a major roadblock to economic recovery.

“The GSMA encourages the Commissioner to keep her focus on the big picture and to make bold and long-term recommendations. In this regard, it is unfortunate that the Commissioner should have used her recent platform with parliament to talk about roaming. Roaming has seen three successive waves of regulation, with Europe’s regulators and mobile companies intensively implementing the latest requirements. The Commissioner should immediately clarify her intentions with regard to roaming, to avoid the industry investing in a roaming solution that has been superseded before it is launched.”

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors
The press release is available at http://www.gsma.com/newsroom/new-gsma-report and the full report, “Mobile Wireless Performance in the EU and U.S.” is available at http://www.gsmamobilewirelessperformance.com

About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries and territories, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators with more than 230 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and utilities. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo. 

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com

Media contacts:
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