The Greek mobile market where only 3 mobile network operators (3-MNOs) are present, was once again, ranked as the most expensive mobile market in EU and as one of the most expensive markets in the world. Even after excluding the mobile telephony tax Greek minimum monthly prices of smartphone plans with 1, 3 or 5 gigabytes were the highest in EU. And while telecom regulators in EU’s remaining 3-MNO tight oligopoly markets are taking steps to remedy effective competition – see recent 4th MNO entry in Portugal and ANACOM’s social tariff (30 gigabytes for 6 EUR) decision – the Greek telecom regulator EETT is in denial and has done little to remedy the apparent market failures in Greece.

Monthly prices of plans with unlimited data volume and as well gigabyte prices of plans with data caps continue to be significantly higher in the 3-MNO German versus the 4-MNO Italian, French, Spanish and UK markets.

5-year mobile service revenue trends for 143 operators present in EU28 & OECD markets. Finnish operators that executed ‘unlimited everything’ strategies were the undisputed champions of the 4G era.

In-depth comparison of 4G prices and gigabytes in the 3-MNO consolidated German versus the 4-MNO UK, French and Italian markets – implications for the German 5G market.

As we asserted back in 2015 the merger mandated so called ‘capacity’ MVNOs did not become effective competitors.

The gap between gigabyte prices in the 4 to 3 consolidated Austrian & German markets and prices in 4-MNO markets where no consolidation has taken place had substantially increased by September 2016

UPDATED with DG Competition's response to Rewheel's concerns. How low should the wholesale data roaming cap be in 2017 to avoid the distortion of competition in North-Eastern domestic mobile markets where retail gigabyte prices are competitive?

Triggered by the planned mergers in the UK, Commissioner Vestager’s assertion that “In fact, infrastructure investment can be stimulated by competition” and by the court challenge filed by Airdata AG against the Commission’s unlawful approval of Telefonica E-Plus German merger we take a closer look at effective competition and in particular 4G LTE mobile internet access (smartphone plan) prices and hotspot/tethering restrictions in the consolidated German protected oligopoly, UK and France.

Inefficient operators that cannot make a healthy return on €20 mass market 10 GByte all-you-can-eat minute & SMS smartphone tariffs will soon become telco road kills in Europe’s competitive markets.