首页
登录
职称英语
It is in consumers’ interests that Three emerges from this year’s 4G auction
It is in consumers’ interests that Three emerges from this year’s 4G auction
游客
2023-11-17
11
管理
问题
It is in consumers’ interests that Three emerges from this year’s 4G auction on a more equal footing with its rivals.
Austria, a four-player market, now faces the same dilemma. Hutchison Whampoa, the conglomerate controlled by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing and owner of the Three brand, wants to take out one of its rivals, leaving just three competitors.
These maneuverings matter to UK consumers because a scenario is beginning to emerge in which we too could be left with a choice of three. If this happens, could consumers be faced with higher prices, and for a potentially inferior service?
The UK network at most danger of being toppled is Three. The newest entrant, loss-making since launch and the smallest by a country mile, Three has argued vocally for protection from regulators to ensure this remains a four-player market—which could create some interesting dilemmas as it pushes for consolidation in Austria.
Urgings from bank analysts to squeeze out a British network are becoming insistent. Their employers, starved of action since the credit crunch, are hungry for the fees that could be earned if Europe’s largest economies consent to a series of telecoms mega-mergers.
Their arguments are being listened to because cash is about to be poured into rolling out super-fast mobile broadband across Europe. The costs are high. The largest-ever sale of British airspace, due to start at the end of this year, could raise up to £4bn for the Treasury, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.
To this sum must be added the cost of building the masts, and laying fibre optic cables to connect them. The UK’s largest network, Everything Everywhere, has promised to spend £ 1.5bn over the next three years. Multiply that by three, to take account of lower investment by smaller players, and £8bn could be spent on masts and spectrum in the UK alone to make 4G a reality.
If consolidation is to take place, it should probably happen before billions are poured into creating four duplicate 4G networks. Bernstein Research analyst Robin Bienenstock has argued eloquently against such wastefulness.
Telecoms watchdog Ofcom, on the other hand, insists it wants four players. In its much-disputed rules for the UK auction, revised and published for a second consultation last week, it says further consolidation could be harmful:
"It is likely that a reduction in the market from four credible national wholesalers to three would lead to a reduction in competition, and hence to an adverse impact on consumers."
Those wondering what consolidation could lead to should cast their minds back 20 years. Vodafone and BT Cellnet had the terrain to themselves from the mid-1980s, but the signal was
patchy
and prices were high. Mobile phones did not become affordable mass-market devices until a decade later, when two more operators—Orange and the company now known as T-Mobile - had established themselves.
From The Guardian, January 17, 2012 [br] Which of the following words can best replace the underlined word "patchy" (last paragraph)?
选项
A、mighty
B、uneven
C、dapple
D、effectual
答案
B
解析
本题为词汇题。根据句子“Vodafone and BT Cellnet had the terrain to themselves from the mid-1980s.but the signal was patchy and prices were high.”中的and可看出信号和后面的价格高应该并列说明之前两家公司垄断时的弊端,所以肯定是说信号不好,不稳定,所以相比其他选项,选项B最为接近该义。
转载请注明原文地址:https://www.tihaiku.com/zcyy/3193929.html
相关试题推荐
Ascientistwhowantstopredictthewayinwhichconsumerswillspendthei
Ascientistwhowantstopredictthewayinwhichconsumerswillspendthei
Ascientistwhowantstopredictthewayinwhichconsumerswillspendthei
Ascientistwhowantstopredictthewayinwhichconsumerswillspendthei
Ascientistwhowantstopredictthewayinwhichconsumerswillspendthei
Ascientistwhowantstopredictthewayinwhichconsumerswillspendthei
Ascientistwhowantstopredictthewayinwhichconsumerswillspendthei
Ascientistwhowantstopredictthewayinwhichconsumerswillspendthei
Ascientistwhowantstopredictthewayinwhichconsumerswillspendthei
Ascientistwhowantstopredictthewayinwhichconsumerswillspendthei
随机试题
Inthe1960s,DouglasMcGregor,oneofthekeythinkersintheartofmanage
GoogleClosesInonDoubleClickDealScoreoneforGo
2013年,国内贷款增长拉动资金来源增长约百分点。A.5 B.
根据FIDIC《土木工程施工合同条件》,争端裁决委员会(DAB)应当在收到书面报
被美国国家临床实验室标准化委员会作为干化学法检查尿蛋白的参考方法是()。A.磺
某厂对某零件A的采购量非常大,且需用量稳定,该厂采用集中采购的组织形式,因某些原
上海证券交易所进行的证券买卖,可以采用大宗交易方式的有()。A:B股单笔买卖申报
已经和依法可以在境内银行间市场交易的证券有()。 A.国际开发机构人民币债券
婴儿鹅口疮局部用药治疗首选A.抗生素药膜局部贴敷B.口服维生素AC.去除刺激因素
A. B. C. D.
最新回复
(
0
)