“Britain’s vote last week to leave the European Union is an opportunity to ease off on the bloc’s ‘suicidal’ antitrust stance against industrial mergers, the head of French telecoms operator Numericable-SFR, Michel Combes, said on Wednesday,” Reuters reports.
“The French telecoms sector faces fierce price competition, but repeated attempts to consolidate have foundered, partly due to antitrust policies that limit national market share in the name of consumer protection,” Reuters reports. “‘If Brexit can serve as a revealer – an awakening of consciousness on the grave crisis facing Europe (generally) – that would be a good thing,’ SFR Chairman and Chief Executive Combes told France’s National Assembly. ‘We think it is necessary to go ahead with a complete revamp of competition policy which today is suicidal for European interests – notably for our industry,’ he said.”
Reuters reports, “‘We really need to permit some European champions to emerge,’ Combes said, to challenge what he called the ‘Gafas’ – a reference to U.S-based tech giants Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We realize there’s some translation going on here, but the way to produce European champions is not to “permit,” but to unleash. Champions generally cannot and do not rise with gargantuan sclerotic bumbledom on their backs.
SEE ALSO:
How Brexit is already impacting Apple – June 28, 2016
How the UK’s Brexit vote to leave European Union affects Apple – June 25, 2016
Apple CEO Cook lobbies EU antitrust chief over Irish back taxes – January 21, 2016
Apple may face $8 billion bill for back taxes after European Commission probe – January 15, 2016
As much as I don’t like artificial forced competition, the European phone market is much better than ours. The service is better, data is faster, and service is cheaper. If consolidation were to happen, I fear those advantages would be undone and the European market would become like the American market with large telecoms charging way too much for their services and not investing properly in network development. I could be wrong, but I think the EU simply needs some tweaking to their regulations rather than getting rid of them all together.
What do you consider “artificial forced competition” ?
All games require rules. Either those rules result in a fair playing field with many competitors (Europe) or they result in every market rapidly consolidating into either a duopoly or poorly regulated regional monopoly (USA).
More competition is always better for the consumer.
More competition is better, but not when everyone is a CLONE of each other. Even in the corporate climate of the USA, many leading designing, inventing, and innovative ideas are brought about through a skunkworks side department that would be hampered by unintended regulations. The CLONE regulations applying to all companies equally does initially bring about short term benefits to all consumers but in the long run, it hampers creativity and in the end it hampers benefits to the consumer.
Regulations begin with great intent, but the power that comes with each regulation passed can’t be controlled by the one with the power. There is no end for the desire for more controlling power.
As to government regulations: There is no power in “Yes”. There is only power in “No”. For every “No” to a companies operation, the more power they get. And The worse it is in the long run for the companies, and eventually to consumers. If only it would stop at some point. But power gained is momentum for more. It doesn’t stop. Those with vision can see it. Those without vision don’t understand this principle.
Yeah, from my (admittedly limited experience in the States) European telco “anti-trust” laws have both reduced prices and ensured cross-company compatibility, and done appear to have limited innovation.
European Public airwaves nothing to fix, when compared to American Telcom.
“Gargantuan sclerotic bumbledom.”
Gotta remember that one.
There better be a Frexit soon or there’s not going to be a France.
Long ago we had friends who were tired of their busy life in the city. They retired early, bought a nice little place on an island, and looked forward to the quiet rural life. They adapted fairly well after a long adjustment period. Every time we visit we end up loading the car with a huge shopping list of stuff they want us to bring because the little store on the island doesn’t carry it. The ferry that they rely on for their lifeline is expensive and infrequent. Health care, telecommunications, and most services in general suck. They end up trekking back to the city often for one thing or another. The quaint independent life is often also a lonely and less economically viable one.
So it is too with the UK, an island nation that wants all the pleasure of the quaint isolated life without any of the costs of maintaining the trade, infrastructure, and rules that an interconnected modern world requires.
Compared to the status the UK previously enjoyed as a full member of the EU, there cannot possibly be any international agreement that will be more favorable for Britain as an outsider. Logically, how could there be? What makes Britain, with its still inflated currency valuation and relatively small market, deserving of unique trade agreements? Britain is facing the prospect of being the next Finland — nice neighbors to the EU, but not a desirable place for companies to invest or locate headquarters.
Consider also if Britain chooses to place any trade restrictions or elevate rules against other nations. WTO rules would either allow reciprocal penalties or equally high trade barriers be placed against the UK. That’s a lose-lose proposition. So it all comes down to the UK attempting to limit immigration? Sorry, that horse left the barn centuries ago. Britain once relied on colonies for cheap labor, now those colonies are full of people with dual citizenship. They are not all fair-skinned, and they speak with accents. Get over it.
It really is a shame that Britain slit its own throat. Logically, anyone should be able to see that consistent rules across the largest possible market is what enables a the strongest and most resilient economy for everyone, and every nation. Good for producers, good for consumers. The Brexiters have not been able to identify one material regulation that the EU imposes that is unrealistic or punitive to Britain. On the contrary, Britain has historically been one of the leading nations pushing for increased regulation so those untrustworthy eastern european nations will follow clear rules. So the EU rules are equally and fairly applied to all members. Just like the USA, really. Almost all common sense stuff that everyone agrees with. Except Britain then wanted special rules that have only increased the cost of doing business in the UK. British cars are more expensive because they drive on the wrong side of the road and are too small of production runs to achieve economies of scale. The antiquated English system of measurement just adds overhead and confusion when a universal system already exists.
The only ones who whine about it are the narrow-minded NIMBYs who don’t want to see Mexicans working in their fields or Pakistani restauranteurs offering curry to Londoners.
Free trade should go hand in hand with free labor movement. That’s what the USA enabled 2 centuries ago for its united colonies, and that’s what the EU stands for today on the European continent. The EU will only grow stronger, and Britain will eventually come crawling back asking for readmittance.
“The antiquated English system of measurement just adds overhead and confusion when a universal system already exists.”
That reveals how little you know of Britain. I’ve just bought 30 litres of fuel for my car, 250 grammes of strawberries and 5 metres of electrical cable. I’m 66 and even when at school 50 years ago, I was taught primarily in metric units. When I was taught metalwork, we would skim off 1mm using the lathe, cut something 2cm shorter or dissolve 100 grammes of a chemical in five litres of water. I’ve been cooking at home ever since I left home and have never owned scales or measures that display solely in imperial units. I exclusively use metric units / Centigrade and always have done.
Personally I think that Brexit is a huge mistake and the concept has been sold on the basis of reducing immigration ( which anybody sensible person knows will not actually happen ). It’s much better to be in the inside making things better, than to be on the outside whining. The fundamental problem here in the UK is that too many British people have been reluctant Europeans. If people had engaged more constructively with Europe, it would have worked better for us.
You are absolutely correct, and it is most likely the USA which is the laggard in adopting the metric system for all people to use.
In my industry, however, BAE Systems designs in English units. Why? No one knows. Some industries are just antiquated. So we dual-dimension everything.
Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple (GAFA) grew from within for the most part, not as a result of mergers resulting in monopoly market positions. The desire of telecoms to consolidate to the point of monopolies will never give them any meaningful power with respect to GAFA, since they are locked to national boundaries. Europe, as a market, is 26-ish small markets working to look like something bigger. the US, China and India will always be bigger markets.
As individual companies, serving smallish customer bases, you’ll never command the market size and profit margins of GAFA. Don’t spend too much time worrying about it. Serve your customers, fight your fights, compete hard and fail if you must.
If they make concessions to prevent a future breakup of the EU, then they need to offer the UK those same consessions, before the invokation of Article 50.
UK citizens are getting shafted. First they weren’t told the truth, and second aren’t being offered a fix and a second referendum.
It all maybe moot if Scotland can veto the use of Article 50, but at the moment UK is getting a nice share of cold shoulder, and technically nothing has been done.
What is on the table is a recomendatin vote to leave the EU and it’s not legally binding.
I see some cowards at the top and a lot of confused people at the bottom. Maybe the secret is leadership wanted out anyway. And now he people are taking the blame. My disclaimer: I am just as confused as anyone can be.
Actually I think that your analysis is the wrong way round. I believe that our mainstream political leaders actually understand that we do need to stay within Europe and that it’s mostly a vocal element of the public that want out.
It’s very telling that those very politicians who advocated leaving are now saying that there is no hurry to invoke Article 50. You would think that if they were 100% convinced of the merits, they wouldn’t wait a moment longer to get started.
Having seen how the Scottish Independence referendum split that nation and still does, I was very much against having an EU referendum because it would inevitably be divisive, unpleasant and possibly dangerous. It believed that it would create more problems than it solved.
As it happened, immigration became a hot topic and after that side won ( 52% vs 48% ), racial hate crimes have dramatically increased. It’s not that 52% of the population have suddenly become racists, but the racists now imagine that 52% of the population agree with them and therefore feel emboldened.
Orange ans Vodaohine and T-Mobile work in many countries and are regulated by EU AND member state laws.
The EU actually does do the unleashing. But they cannot require member states do unleash.
In fact, the telecoms acts in the EU permit cross-border business. It is the meme er states themselves that add additional regulations that discourages consolidation and cross-border business.
The EU is like the Interatate Commerce Commission without the sovereignty of the federal
Government of the US to enforce laws.
I have worked with the largest cable provider in Europe. They do not want cross-border consolidation and it is perfectly legal to do so.
So I tell Americans when you hear Europeans complain about the EU, it is a crock of shit. European business leaders are lazy as hell and do not want to go the extra mile to create additional value.
FANG and Apple exploit EU laws to the point they are criticized for it.
Nationalism is the issue in the EU. The eastern countries are extremely provincial, France is very protective and the U.K. just whines all the time.
You know, Republicans in Mississippi constantly complain about government holding them
back, over regulating. What is the biggest economic sector in Mississippi?
Government. Without government Mississippi would be poorer yet the would have you believe that government holds them back because blacks and whites must be paid the same amount of money to do the same work.
So when Europeans complain about the EU, it’s a false bogeyman. The member states themselves are all protectionist.
Apple is he felt successful in the EU. Operations in Ireland, supply chain in Luxembourg, Marketing in the UK. How can they do it but Orange or SFR or Virgin Media can’t?
It’s not the EU holding them back. It’s the members states and he EU will not force member states to get rid of protectionism.