Complex Services: Product Market Definition in Mobile Communications

Abstract

Based on the features of modern mobile services, we propose conceptual approaches to determining the boundaries of the retail market for these services in the context of antitrust law application. Taking into account the survey of consumers of mobile services conducted in 2018, we explain the sources of the complexity of mobile services on the demand side. Additionally, we address the grounds for the complexity of services on the supply side. Two key analytical approaches to the study of the mobile services market are revealed: the concept of cluster markets and the definition of market boundaries through bundles. Summarizing foreign experience in analyzing cluster markets and markets for bundles allowed us to formulate a number of criteria, based on which conclusions about the correct boundaries of product markets in mobile communications can be drawn. Verification of compliance with such criteria on the basis of the survey, as well as on the basis of other data about the industry, suggests that the relevant product markets are bundles represented by tariff plans. Communication services in intranet roaming should also be analyzed only in conjunction with other elements of tariff plans. Isolation of individual components for the purpose of their separate analysis can lead to errors, including ignoring the fact that the prices of elements within a bundle are set based on the need to ensure the desired level of profitability of the entire bundle as a whole, rather than the profitability of individual components.