This master’s thesis focuses on the Telecom market of the European Union as the EU digital agenda moves towards a Single Market of Telecommunications in Europe. For this objective to be achieved the EU has set two major goals, namely the elimination of roaming fees among European members and a common net neutrality policy. This regulatory path combined with the emergence of OTT services is forcing Telecom operators to reshape their business models and strategies.
This work will analyze more specific issues related to the two topics of net neutrality and international roaming including, zero-rating, wholesale and retail prices and the effect of the eurotariff among others. This work will focus mainly on the SMS and voice markets that are the main sectors in the line of fire of both the EU Commission and OTT players.
Taking the technological and market developments with respect to OTTs into consideration and the introduction of roaming price caps, this work will look into the main challenges and the strategic actions that traditional Telecom operators face and take, and how this development is shaped by and affecting the regulatory development at the EU level.