For The Economist - LETTERS - Competition in Weather Forecasting

For The Economist - LETTERS

Competition in Weather Forecasting

Sir - You close your article on the growth of private weather forecasting in Europe ("It never rains", September 18th) by stating that `too much competition from the private sector would jeopardise the free exchange of data that allows any country to formulate forecasts'. This is the main argument put forward by state-owned weather services against privatisation of the industry. However, it is simply incorrect.

In order to appreciate the problems between state-owned and private sector meteorological services, it is necessary to distinguish between derived information such as forecasts for specific cities, and basic information, which consists of observations gathered globally and the results of global and regional weather prediction models. The basic information - essential for all those providing weather services - is produced mainly by the national weather services, and funded by national budgets.

In the U.S., the problems have been solved neatly as all data held by governmental agencies belong to the people by law. Therefore, basic meteorological information is openly and freely made available to anyone. Value added services are provided by the private sector, without competition from the government.

In Europe, the state-owned weather services see the basic information as a set of products to be sold. This approach is questionable for many reasons. First, the data has already been funded by taxpayers and is being monopolised for further profit by the state. Second, because of their monopoly status, the state weather services may apply unreasonable, if not discriminatory, prices and conditions on the information they sell. Third, and most troubling, state-owned services also produce the derived information mentioned above. In other words, they are using at no cost to themselves the basic data they are selling to their competitors in the private sector. This is nothing less than a conflict of interest.

Following consultations with the European Commission, ECOMET, a European Economic Interest Grouping for the distribution of basic weather data, was established in 1995 by a number of state-owned weather services. However, as recently reported by R. Hoenson, ECOMET Chief Executive, the impact of the ECOMET Agreement has been devastating for the European weather industry, with a decline in overall revenue between 1997 and 1998.

Competition in the European weather industry cannot be turned back. Therefore it would be much better if the state-owned weather services embraced this change, instead of putting up obstacles against it. Indeed, adapting in Europe the U.S. policy of free access to basic data seems the only way to substantially expand the European weather market. Further liberalisation of weather data and services would increase overall revenue and strengthen the infrastructure for both state-owned and private weather services.

Pirkko Saarikivi

Managing Director

Helsinki Weather Service Finland Ltd