Appeals body nullifys comreg decsion

starn

Yesterday the appeals courth nullified ComRegs decision that both O2 and Vodafone were 'jointly dominant in the access and origination' market. As a result this means that neither compnay has to open there network to a MVNO. So what this means is that there will be no Tesco Mobile or Virgin Mobile Ireland or even a Easeymobile Ireland. What are people's thoughts on this Descion

BuffyBot

So what this means is that there will be no Tesco Mobile or Virgin Mobile Ireland or even a Easeymobile Ireland

No it doesn't. It means O2 and Vodafone can't be forced to allow MNVO's operate on their networks, but they may still do so if they wish.

jrey1981

It depends if the relevant MVNO can negotiate a wholesale rate that is to O2 or Vodafones liking, and whether either network has spare capacity.

I wouldnt hold out for an Easymobile Ireland as it is not doing very well in the UK. Tesco are in talks I believe. I wouldnt rule out Virgin Mobile yet either.

Clever Communications are also talking to Vodafone

BuffyBot

I wouldn't rule easyMobile out. They're launch in the UK may not have been huge, but they do appear to be gaining ground and they've launched internationally now..so if they can strike a deal here, they may yet appear.

jesus_thats_gre

This decision was always going to be overturned.

rogue-entity

I wonder how much money O2 and Voda paid to have that decision overturned or was this just another example of Comreg's lack of legal oomph or DD's spinelessness. I mean it is quite obvious that Voda and O2 have between them about 90% (or more) of the mobile market making them jointly dominant and as such liable to being forced open to MVNOs. I welcomed the launch of 3 and its competitive pricing that has drawn me away from O2. For the calls that I make and the volume, I found that switching to 3 saved me nearly €25-30 Eur/month on call costs.

My friend on Voda would be charged 65c/min to ring me while I could call him and have the call time deducted from my minutes, 30c outside that at anytime of the day. For me to call GB, it is only 49c so it is technicaly cheaper for me to phone my cousin in England then for my friend to call me.

jrey1981

I find it crazy that an hours drive North of Dublin there are all the UK networks and MVNOs to choose from for making a call, while down here we still really only have 2 networks with full national coverage rural and urban

Pythia

Yes, but Britain have a population of about 60million, we have approx 5million, so their market is 12 times bigger than ours. Anyway most of the networks in Britain are MVNOs too. I think they only have 5 with national coverage?

drdre

i still hope we get some cheap company soon, donot care who it is as my bills are in the air.:rolleyes: