Greece remains one of the most expensive countries in the EU for mobile phone data, according to figures unveiled this week in a European Commission report on the digital economy in the country, which also says entry of a third telecoms provider into the Greek market will possibly lead to a significant reduction in rates for data transmission
The study, by the Commission DG-Comp competition watchdog, relied on the Finland-based independent study and consulting firm Rewheel to gauge the costs of connectivity in Greece, as part of two sector-wide studies on e-commerce and Fintech.
According to the study, mobile phone tariffs in the east Mediterranean country are among the highest in the EU, while remains among the least competitive as far as OECD member-states are concerned.
Greece now has only three mobile phone providers, who also control the “lion’s share” of the landline market, Internet access and even terrestrial-based subscriber television. The trio are Deutsche Telekom-controlled Cosmote – the successor of the one-time state telephony monopoly, OTE – Vodafone and Wind.
In a first reaction, Vodafone’s subsidiary in Greece merely responded that the study is “mishmash of inaccuracies, completely erroneous information and baseless references, which not only have no basis in reality but lead a reader to a wrong conclusion, as well as undermining Greece’s digital leap forward…”
