CEO of Deutsche Telekom wants European regulators to allow network sharing and sector consolidation

Rene Obermann, the CEO of Germany's Deutsche Telekom is petitioning European regulators to make it easier and simpler for Europe's mobile operators to consolidate and says carriers should either be allowed to merge or to share network infrastructure and resources.

Speaking in London, Herr Oberrman said that Europe's mobile operators are facing "huge pressure" to cut costs and increase their offerings as margins come under increasing pressure in what he he calls "an overcrowded market".

Warming to his theme, the CEO of one of Europe's biggest incumbent telcos observed that there are about 30 owners of mobile telecoms operations in Europe and some 70 networks encompassing everything from 2G to 2.5G, 3G and wi-fi.

In this regard he complained that in many member states of the EU and elsewhere in Europe as well, network owners may only use the specific technologies listed in the licenses issued by national regulators and called on the industry watchdogs to relax these obligations "to provide network owners with an incentive to invest in telecoms infrastructure".

"Regulators should accept there is a need for more efficient use of capital resources for both economic and ecological reasons," he said in a reference to the environmental impact of building duplicate networks. He also said, "Regulators should allow network consolidation. Over time that would be useful as would moves to allow a more efficient use of spectrum."

It is certainly true that the European mobile market is characterised by intense competition and the impact of considerable price reductions that have resulted from that competition and regulatory intervention both by national regulators and the European Commission (EC) particularly in relation to price capping and the reduction of the notoriously high mobile roaming rates that most Europeans have had to put up with until this very month.

Furthermore, in several countries mobile penetration - in Italy, Holland and the UK for example, is well in excess of 100 per cent and supersaturated.