The free market orthodoxy dictates that the more companies compete in a sector more and the better the service that users receive. Under that premise was ended more than two decades ago the telephone monopolies, which were replaced by a multitude of private operators.After those operations, Internet and mobile telephony have resulted in a digital world that generates data traffic cataracts and operators are facing significant investments in new and powerful networks to meet the overwhelming demand. Hence, companies need to gain size and conquer markets to create economies of scale that allow them to remain profitable.
United States and Asia are at the forefront of this process of concentration, of which Europe has lagged behind due to the fragmentation of the market and the imposition of tariffs on a multitude of regulators. In front of the big four companies which share the U.S. market and the three vying Chinese, also subject to a single regulator, in the Old World there are more than three hundred operators. Large multinational companies based in Europe like Telefonica, Orange and Vodafone have warned that the consolidation is necessary to compete effectively with Asian and American giants.
Buying Verizon to Vodafone of its stake in the mobile market leader in the USA, which has become the third largest business operation in history, is just the latest warning companies push across the Atlantic .America Movil, Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim firm is also shopping in Europe and has launched a bid for the Dutch KPN. And AT & T, the U.S. exmonopolio, does not hide his interest in its European rivals, including Telefonica. The weakness of many companies market and lack of liquidity makes them very attractive.
Buying the Finnish Nokia by Microsoft has left Europe without hardware manufacturers, but no presence in the mobile software. American hegemony in the latter sector is evident: the mobile operating systems today are Android (Google), iOS (Apple), Windows Phone (Microsoft) and even BB10 (Blackberry). Nokia loss at the hands of an American company is the symbol of weak European Technology, which has been increasing since the advent of the Internet and smartphones and is now evident in the delay of 4G. Something must make the EU authorities as well as promising a digital single market that never comes to reverse that trend only leads to technological servitude and therefore economic regarding U.S. or Asia. The fall of Nokia, who became a leader in the global mobile market, shows errors in business management, but also a poor European policy of their industry.
Globally, what is missing is greater consumer protection, which does not benefit big mergers that are logged. That is to show the example of the energy sector, shared between a handful of big players, which has driven prices against falling telephony living through greater competition signatures.
