Press Release: Mobile use up, consumer prices down: Europe’s telecoms sector weathering economic downturn, says Commission report

Europe leads the world in mobile phone services with the number of subscriptions in 2008 at 119% of the EU population (up 7 percentage points from 2007), well ahead of the US (87%) and Japan (84%). This was the finding of the Commission progress report on the single telecoms market published on 25 March. Despite the economic crisis, the EU's telecoms sector (worth about 3% of EU GDP) continued to grow in 2008 with revenues estimated at above €300 billion, up 1.3% compared to 2007 and outperforming the rest of the economy (up by 1% only). Consumers gain the most from the sector's competitiveness: they pay less while getting better value for money. Average mobile phone bills have fallen from €21.48 to €19.49 in 2008 and 75% of European consumers now have internet connections of 2 megabits per second and above (speeds allowing, for example, TV over internet), thanks to EU action. However, the Commission's report also warned that without better European coordination, the benefits of a single telecoms market could be jeopardised by inconsistent national regulation.

European Commission: MEMO/09/132: Mobile use up, consumer prices down: Europe's telecoms sector weathering economic downturn, says Commission report http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/473&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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