3 Hong Kong to Give E-Coupons to Data Roamers in Japan

3 Hong Kong, the mobile communications division of Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong Holdings, announced a partnership with Japan’s NTT Docomo that will provide 3 Hong Kong’s data-roaming customers with free electronic coupons (or e-coupons) that can be redeemed with merchants in Japan, plus travel information. The e-coupons entitle roaming customers to discounts of up to 40 percent at popular tax-free shops and department stores, as well as restaurants and beauty salons. Data-roaming customers using the 3Roam Data Plan or Data Roaming Daily Pass will receive an SMS from 3 Hong Kong containing special merchant offers and practical travel information after commencing data-roaming service over NTT Docomo’s mobile network in Japan. By following instructions, customers can download the complimentary e-coupons from a website linked to the SMS. They will get the discounts simply by presenting e-coupons when shopping.    We like this promotion, which is distinctive and very well tailored to today’s rapidly developing e-commerce marketplace. As we have reported previously, roaming charges are relatively unpopular among mobile customers; in Europe, anti-roaming sentiment reached the point at which regulatory action was taken to put an end to the fees entirely. Even in regions such as Asia where roaming charges continue, it is a good idea to incentivize consumers to use roaming services despite the excess charges. The e-coupons being offered through 3 Hong Kong and NTT Docomo accomplish this goal by giving customers some value back in exchange for spending on data roaming charges. Since more and more consumers are using their mobile devices—and mobile data, of course—to help them make purchases, and many people are more likely to make substantial purchases while on trips, e-coupons are a particularly appropriate kind of incentive for data roaming. Customers on the move may also use the roaming data to search the internet and decide which participating merchants they want to patronize, thus driving extra revenue to the operators. This kind of promotion could be taken to the next stage by expanding the e-coupons to include purchases made directly over mobile devices rather than just in-person transactions. That could significantly increase the volume of data usage among roaming customers.

Tarifica is the global leader in monitoring and analyzing telecom pricing. Covering hundreds of operators in every region of the globe, Tarifica’s databases of mobile, fixed line data and voice tariffs are among the largest and most in-depth in the world. Tarifica is also a leading publisher of benchmark and other pricing reports, and its analysts are recognized authorities in the telecom industry, relied upon by operators and businesses worldwide for pricing insight and guidance. To learn more about Tarifica, please visit www.tarifica.com

Hutchison Whampoa Faces Uphill Battle in O2 Deal

After talks that began in January, Hutchison Whampoa on Tuesday announced its agreement to acquire U.K. operator O2, which is owned by Spain-based Telefónica for a total of £10.25 billion (US $15.2 billion). However, significant challenges from European Commission regulators lie ahead for the two companies. One key concern for competition authorities, of course, is the fact that a merger of Hutchison’s 3 UK with O2 would reduce the number of mobile network operators in the U.K. from four to three. Beyond that, the EC will have to consider whether the deal should be scrutinized only within the context of the U.K. market or within that of the EU market as a whole.

Any deal involving a reduction in competition in a given market is likely to face regulatory hurdles; this one is likely to face even higher ones than usual, or at least greater uncertainty. The question of jurisdiction is one reason. Since both Hutchison and Telefónica are multinational companies with operations in many European countries, major changes to their U.K. businesses will have ripple effects elsewhere, as well. The change in the composition of the EC within the past year is another “wild card” in assessing the deal’s chances. While similar mergers in Germany and Ireland were approved in 2014, the makeup of the Commission has changed since then. Additionally, those deals were green-lighted on condition that the operators in question open up spectrum for more MVNOs—a policy that would not constitute a remedy in the case of the U.K. market, in which there are already many MVNOs. And finally, the merger will have to be considered in light of another proposed merger in the U.K. announced within the last few weeks—BT’s agreement to purchase EE from Deutsche Telekom and Orange for £12.5 billion (US $18.6 billion). Unlike the 3–O2 deal, this one would not reduce the number of MNOs in the U.K., since it involves a fixed and broadband provider acquiring a mobile business to create converged services.

The above item appeared in recent issue of The Tarifica Alert, a weekly resource that analyzes noteworthy developments in the telecoms industry from around the world. To access all of the latest articles and issues or to speak with the research team: http://www.tarifica.com/contactus.aspx

Austria Initiates Competition Probe After Mobile Prices Rise

Austrian competition regulator BWB has announced plans to investigate the developments in mobile prices since the market was reduced to three operators by 3 Austria’s acquisition of Orange Austria at the beginning of 2013. The BWB said it will conduct a thorough review of the “highly concentrated” market in order to ensure consumers are not disadvantaged by any anti-competitive behavior, that no commercial practices are distorting or restricting the market and that fair and transparent competition is ensured. The BWB, which said it is working with other governmental bodies on the investigation, has begun by requesting further information from the mobile operators. T-Mobile Austria stated that it had received such a request and was cooperating with it.

When 3 Austria (owned by Hutchison Whampoa) bought Orange’s Austrian unit for €1.3 billion (US $1.7 billion), the number of MNOs in the country went from four to three. To compensate for that, the government required 3 Austria to offer up to 16 prospective MVNOs access to its network. However, there were no takers. Now, the operator says it is in talks to launch one or two MVNOS before the end of 2014. Its remaining MNO competitors, T-Mobile Austria and Telekom Austria, host more than a dozen MVNOs between them.

T-Mobile, which received a request for information, said in a statement that its pricing was based entirely on its own commercial considerations and costs, which it said have been increased by the high prices in the country’s recent spectrum auction, as well as by higher energy prices and the need to invest in its network to meet growing demand for data. It also said that competition is poised to increase rather than decrease due to the expected entry of new MVNOs in the coming months.

 

“The situation in the Austrian market is murky at present and underscores how difficult it can be to assess the consequences of telecom mergers. Nevertheless, it appears that if the consolidation of 3 and Orange has not reduced competition, it certainly has done little or nothing so far to stimulate it.”

John Dorfman,

Editor-in-Chief,

The Tarifica Alert

The above item appeared in a recent issue of The Tarifica Alert, a weekly resource that analyzes noteworthy developments in the telecoms industry from around the world. To access all of the latest articles and issues:  http://www.tarifica.com/TarificaAlert.aspx