Fixed-Mobile convergence impact

According to a new report from Exane BNP Paribas and Arthur D little, FMC should shake up the European telecom market in coming years. Traditional borders between fixed and mobile networks are blurring. Bundled and quadruple-play services are flourishing; fixed operators are re-integrating their mobile unit (when they have one) or looking to alternative technologies (WiFI, WiMAX, MVNO, .;) to bring VOIP and some mobility to their customers, mobile operators consider 3G as the main vector to offer broadband multimedia services, IP-based core networking deployments, are few examples of ongoing FMC. As a result, both will become head-to-head competitors and offers will proliferate. Prices will come down for the big benefit of users. Operators will loose in profitability (EBITDA should fall 1% in 2005-2010; ROCE should decline to under 15%) and in revenues (global market should go down 0.8% pa).