On 1st and 2nd November 2016, MVNO Europe secretariat and members participated to the MVNO Networking Congress in London. MVNO Europe debated with industry stakeholders key points concerning the MVNO sector: the end of retail roaming surcharges, the transition to 4G and 5G, and the business perspectives in IoT services brought by the new eSIM standard.
In a panel on roaming, Morgane Taylor, Policy Officer at MVNO Europe indicated that if the end of retail roaming fees could open opportunities for MVNOs with expected surges in traffic volumes, a lot of uncertainty remained on the wholesale roaming markets. The impact of ‘roam-like-a-home’ on MVNOs is unclear and will depend on the on-going negotiations at European level. The European Commission proposal on the table to review the EU regulated wholesale roaming caps will lead to serious disruption of competition and force MVNOs to withdraw their most generous data-led offers. Much work still needs to be done in the months to come to ensure that all operators, including innovative players such as MVNOs, can continue to compete on the markets.
Our member Franz Delpont from Euro Information Telecom debated, in a panel with MVNOs Talk Talk and Virgin Mobile Polska, on the future of communications services in light of the 4G transition as well as future developments on 5G. It is crucial for MVNOs to participate in the take-up of the latest standard and be able to provide cutting-edge technology to their customers. MVNOs are too often barred from offering higher value-added services and standards.
MVNO Europe Chair Jacques Bonifay (Transatel) gave exciting perspectives for MVNOs on the IoT segment, as the eSIM standard is being integrated. Nevertheless, MVNOs need to remain vigilant at business and policy levels as to make sure the value proposition will not shift to device manufacturers in the future.
We’re looking forward participating in future Informa MVNO Events, the MVNO World Congress in Nice, 24-27 April 2017!