BRUSSELS, Belgium-GSM Europe, the European arm of the GSM Association, said it welcomed the 10 new member countries of the European Union, which it said represent some of the fastest-growing European economies due in part to strong mobile markets.
The new EU countries, which officially joined the EU May 1, include Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. According to a European Commission report, the estimated net economic benefits from the mobile industry in Europe last year comprised $127 billion or 1 percent of national gross domestic product.
The accession of the new countries will provide opportunities for partnership and alliances, GSM Europe said, and challenges carriers to develop innovative strategies to protect their market shares. To that end, Lithuania wireless carrier Omnitel May 1 made a third-generation call from the capital city of Vilnius to Brussels using a UMTS trial network with Motorola Inc. equipment.
