TELECOMS : MOBILE TELEPHONY ACCOUNTED FOR 1.7 MILLION JOBS IN 2010.

Despite the morose economic climate, European mobile telephony services "substantially contribute to social and economic development in Europe," says GSMA, the international association of mobile operators, in its 2011 European mobile observatory' report(1), released on 8 December 2011. "In just twenty years, the mobile industry has grown to become comparable in size to aerospace and larger than pharmaceuticals," said Anne Bouverot, the director-general of GSMA.

Nevertheless, the report notes that European operators' income has not grown since 2009 (0,3%). The report points out that the industry is more specifically behind compared to the 17 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, where the income of mobile operators increased by 14% between 2008 and 2010. However, the report stresses that the mobile industry aims to...