Telefonica's exit from Europe's most significant mobile alliance is another blow to enterprises looking for easier and cheaper international service provisioning. Instead end users might take a look at the progress being made by less high-profile operators and software providers. Indeed, given the lack of progress European alliances have made, it is a wonder the EC considers that Telefonica's takeover of O2 makes its membership of Freemove a threat to competition. Since the alliances launched in 2003, new service announcements have been thin on the ground. But the need for alliances is as acute as it was when Telecom Italia, Orange and Telefonica founded Freemove three years ago, says Ed Vonk, chairman of the EVUA, an association of major corporate users.
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