The Strategic Implications of European Union Expansion for Mobile Telecommunications Companies

Authors: Whalley Jason, Curwen P

Management Science Working Paper No. 14 (2004)

This working paper has been published as The Strategic Implications of EU Expansion for Mobile Telecommunication Companies European Business Review (2005) Issue 6

Abstract

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The accession of ten new member states in May 2004 profoundly and irrevocably altered the European Union. The European Union expanded to encompass almost 400 million people in twenty-five member states. It has been speculated that, as a consequence of this expansion, mobile telecommunication operators will change their investment strategies to encompass these new member states. In this paper we establish second- and third-generation licence ownership as well as the number of subscribers controlled by each licensee. Multiple licence owners are then categorised by their presence in, and stated intent towards, accession countries, demonstrating in the process the range of expansion and consolidation strategic options that are available.