ROAMING : MOBILE PHONE OPERATORS DEFEND SINGLE IMSI' MODEL.

Separating domestic service from roaming service via the technical model of a single IMSI'(1) is the "most efficient" solution, said Martin Whitehead, the director of GSMA Europe, the association of mobile operators, at a conference organised by the ECTA, the European telecoms association, on 29 November 2011. In this way, the domestic operator would retain technical control of the roaming service - unlike the dual IMSI' model suggested by the Commission in its proposal for a regulation on mobile roaming.

The proposal for a regulation was presented on 6 July, to replace the 2007 regulation, which was amended in 2009 and will expire in 2012. The text is innovative in that it introduces structural solutions to tackle the root of the problem: the lack of competition on the roaming market.

One solution is to separate the domestic service from the roaming service to give consumers free reign to choose another operator for roaming services from 1 July 2014.

The principle is attractive but its technical implementation remains tricky. "We need a solution which benefits clients" but also ensures competition, said Guiseppe Conte, a member of the office of Neelie Kroes, the commissioner for the Digital Agenda.

Thus, while proposing a technologically neutral approach, in its draft text the Commission proposed an example of a technical measure: the dual IMSI' measure. This system aims to transfer the technical control of the roaming service to the operator in charge of this roaming service...

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