The establishment of new roaming alliances and the collective power of large operator groups is changing the face of roaming with a greater emphasis on home network control and preferential partner selection. "The forthcoming European summer period is likely to see increased communications from operators to its roamer base on how to select the appropriate partner with a focus on the accompanying roaming tariff applicable with the preferential partner selection" states Mich�le Scanlon, telecoms consultant and author of Global Mobile Roaming, a new strategic report published by Informa Telecoms & Media. Recent tariff developments such as the Vodafone Passport plan are aimed at transparency of pricing and lower costs when roaming within the operator group. Other groups and alliances are expected to announce new tariff initiatives, especially in Europe that continues to dominate the global roaming market, and is subject to an ongoing European Commission investigation into roaming charges.
What was once a simple, unidirectional flow of electricity from centralized power plants to passive consumers is evolving into a complex, intelligent network where millions of distributed resources actively participate in grid operations. This transformation, powered by smart grid technologies, represents one of the most significant infrastructure shifts of our time. It promises to reshape how we generate, distribute, and consume energy. At its core, the smart grid represents far more than mere digitization of existing infrastructure. This bi-directional capability is fundamental to understanding why smart grids are becoming the backbone of modern energy systems, facilitating everything from real-time demand response to the integration of renewable energy sources. Smart Grid Market Development By 2030, smart grid technologies are projected to cover nearly half of the global electrical grid, up dramatically from just 24 percent in 2025. This expansion is underpinned by explosive gr...