ITU Study on International Mobile Roaming Services
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REGULATORY AND MARKET ENVIRONMENT 2013 International Telecommunication Union R Telecommunication Development Bureau EMBE Place des Nations NOV INTERNATIONAL MOBILE CH-1211 Geneva 20 Switzerland ROAMING SERVICES: www.itu.int FACILITATING COMPETITION AND PROTECTING USERS S R OTECTING USE R VICES: FACILITATING COMPETITION AND P COMPETITION FACILITATING VICES: R OAMING SE R NATIONAL MOBILE NATIONAL R Printed in Switzerland NOVEMBER 2013 NTE Geneva, 2013 11/2013 I Telecommunication Development Sector International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) Office of the Director Place des Nations CH-1211 Geneva 20 – Switzerland Email: [email protected] Tel.: +41 22 730 5035/5435 Fax: +41 22 730 5484 Deputy to the Director and Infrastructure Enabling Innovation and Partnership Project Support and Knowledge Director，Administration and Environmnent and Department (IP) Management Department (PKM) Operations Coordination e-Applications Department (IEE) Department (DDR) Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Tel.: +41 22 730 5784 Tel.: +41 22 730 5421 Tel.: +41 22 730 5900 Tel.: +41 22 730 5447 Fax: +41 22 730 5484 Fax: +41 22 730 5484 Fax: +41 22 730 5484 Fax: +41 22 730 5484 Africa Ethiopia Cameroon Senegal Zimbabwe International Telecommunication Union internationale des Union internationale des International Telecommunication Union (ITU) télécommunications (UIT) télécommunications (UIT) Union (ITU) Regional Office Bureau de zone Bureau de zone Area Office P.O. Box 60 005 Immeuble CAMPOST, 3e étage 19, Rue Parchappe x Amadou TelOne Centre for Learning Gambia Rd., Leghar ETC Building Boulevard du 20 mai Assane Ndoye Corner Samora Machel and 3rd floor Boîte postale 11017 Immeuble Fayçal, 4e étage Hampton Road Addis Ababa – Ethiopia Yaoundé – Cameroon B.P. 50202 Dakar RP P.O. Box BE 792 Belvedere Dakar – Senegal Harare – Zimbabwe Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Tel.: +251 11 551 4977 Tel.: + 237 22 22 9292 Tel.: +221 33 849 7720 Tel.: +263 4 77 5939 Tel.: +251 11 551 4855 Tel.: + 237 22 22 9291 Fax: +221 33 822 8013 Tel.: +263 4 77 5941 Tel.: +251 11 551 8328 Fax: + 237 22 22 9297 Fax: +263 4 77 1257 Fax: +251 11 551 7299 Americas Brazil Barbados Chile Honduras União Internacional de International Telecommunication Unión Internacional de Unión Internacional de Telecomunicações (UIT) Union (ITU) Telecomunicaciones (UIT) Telecomunicaciones (UIT) Regional Office Area Office Oficina de Representación de Área Oficina de Representación de Área SAUS Quadra 06, Bloco “E” United Nations House Merced 753, Piso 4 Colonia Palmira, Avenida Brasil 11º andar, Ala Sul Marine Gardens Casilla 50484, Plaza de Armas Ed. COMTELCA/UIT, 4.º piso Ed. Luis Eduardo Magalhães (Anatel) Hastings, Christ Church Santiago de Chile – Chile P.O. Box 976 70070-940 Brasilia, DF – Brazil P.O. Box 1047 Tegucigalpa – Honduras Bridgetown – Barbados Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Tel.: +55 61 2312 2730-1 Tel.: +1 246 431 0343/4 Tel.: +56 2 632 6134/6147 Tel.: +504 22 201 074 Tel.: +55 61 2312 2733-5 Fax: +1 246 437 7403 Fax: +56 2 632 6154 Fax: +504 22 201 075 Fax: +55 61 2312 2738 Arab States Asia and the Pacific CIS countries Egypt Thailand Indonesia Russian Federation International Telecommunication International Telecommunication International Telecommunication International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Union (ITU) Union (ITU) Union (ITU) Regional Office Regional Office Area Office Area Office Smart Village, Building B 147, 3rd floor Thailand Post Training Center, 5th Sapta Pesona Building, 13th floor 4, Building 1 Km 28 Cairo – Alexandria Desert Road floor, JI. Merdan Merdeka Barat No. 17 Sergiy Radonezhsky Str. Giza Governorate 111 Chaengwattana Road, Laksi Jakarta 10001 – Indonesia Moscow 105120 Cairo – Egypt Bangkok 10210 – Thailand Russian Federation Mailing address Mailing address: Mailing address: P.O. Box 178, Laksi Post Office c/o UNDP – P.O. Box 2338 P.O. Box 25 – Moscow 105120 Laksi, Bangkok 10210 – Thailand Jakarta 10001 – Indonesia Russian Federation Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Tel.: +202 3537 1777 Tel.: +66 2 575 0055 Tel.: +62 21 381 3572 Tel.: +7 495 926 6070 Fax: +202 3537 1888 Fax: +66 2 575 3507 Tel.: +62 21 380 2322 Fax: +7 495 926 6073 Tel.: +62 21 380 2324 Fax: +62 21 389 05521 Europe Switzerland International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) Europe Unit (EUR) Place des Nations CH-1211 Geneva 20 – Switzerland Switzerland Email: [email protected] Tel.: +41 22 730 5111 Mobile-Roaming.indd 2 02.12.2013 10:41:56 International mobile roaming services: Facilitating competition and protecting users November 2013 This report has been prepared for ITU by Mr Dimitri Ypsilanti, under the direction of the Regulatory and Market Environment Division (RME), of the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT). This study has been developed based on desk research as well as using data from the ITU Tariff Policies Survey, ICTEye database (www.itu.int/icteye/). Please consider the environment before printing this report. ITU 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, by any means whatsoever, without the prior written permission of ITU. International mobile roaming services: Facilitating competition and protecting users Table of contents Page 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Mobile devices are becoming the main tool for communications ................................... 1 1.2 Growth in international travel .......................................................................................... 7 1.3 The challenge of high roaming prices ............................................................................... 8 2 Key IMR Regulatory Issues ................................................................................................... 11 2.1 Responding to high IMR prices ......................................................................................... 11 2.2 Wholesale IMR charges .................................................................................................... 13 2.3 Retail charges .................................................................................................................... 19 2.4 Data roaming .................................................................................................................... 21 2.5 Transparency .................................................................................................................... 23 2.6 Impacts of the different initiatives ................................................................................... 23 2.7 Taxation ............................................................................................................................ 25 3 Structural solutions on the IMR market ............................................................................... 28 4 Protecting and empowering subscribers .............................................................................. 31 4.1 Transparency of retail charges ......................................................................................... 32 4.2 Information requirements for users ................................................................................. 34 5 Initiatives by mobile network operators .............................................................................. 38 5.1 Mobile voice and SMS Roaming ....................................................................................... 40 5.2 Mobile data roaming ........................................................................................................ 42 5.3 Substitutes for mobile roaming ........................................................................................ 44 5.3.1 Use of alternate SIM cards ..................................................................................... 45 5.3.2 VoIP solutions ........................................................................................................ 48 5.3.3 Messaging solutions ............................................................................................... 49 5.3.4 Mobile data substitutes ......................................................................................... 49 5.3.5 Wi-Fi access ............................................................................................................ 50 5.4 Making choices ................................................................................................................. 50 6 International, regional and bilateral initiatives .................................................................... 51 6.1 The role of cross-border and trade agreements ............................................................... 52 6.2 Regional and bilateral initiatives ...................................................................................... 61 7 Conclusions and best practice recommendations ................................................................. 69 7.1 Best practice for price regulation ..................................................................................... 69 7.2 Best practice to increase user awareness and transparency ..........................................