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Wireless Federation » archive for 'Mobile Penetration'

Morocco’s subscriber base will increase from 23million to 26million from 2008 - 2010 (Morocco)

  • August 20th, 2008
  • 1:54 pm

Morocco’s telecoms sector is showing healthy progress, with mobile penetration rates growing. Nevertheless, it has been said the market remains far from developed and prices may need to be lowered, and the competitive environment improved, before the country can establish a customer base with maximum profitability.
 
MT reported a net income of around Dh8m ($1m) for 2007, up 18.7% compared to 2006. The strong growth was due largely to its mobile phone operations and better cost management. It also announced its expectation for profit growth of over 9% in 2008 with an estimated sales growth.

One of the most significant events has been the introduction of North Africa’s first 3G mobile phone licences. Wana heightened the level of competition in the mobile segment in March 2007, when it introduced North Africa’s first 3G+ service, also known as 3.5G, beating both Meditel and MT to market by nine months.

Notable highlights of the 3Q08 Morocco Mobile Forecast include:

  • Total subscribers in Morocco will increase from 23million to 26million over the forecast period of 2008 - 2010. The wireless penetration level will increase from 73.9% to 83%
  • In 2010, we expect that Maroc Telecom, Medi Tel and Wana will serve 65.4%, 32% and 2.8% of the subscriber base in Morocco. With Wana expanding the size of its operation, the leading player, Maroc Telecom, will be losing its market share slightly. Maroc Telecom’s market share will decrease from up to 66.2% in 2008 to 65.4% in 2010
  • During the forecast period from 2008 to 2010, we think that Maroc Telecom’s share of net additions will fall from 64.6% to 51% while that of Wana increases from 5.4% to 20.7%
  • Maroc Telecom will continue to enjoy a high EBITDA margin at 61.6% while MediTel is forecasted to have a 45% EBITDA margin in 2010
  • In 2010, Maroc Telecom is forecasted to register ARPU of US$ 13.4/month as opposed to US$ 7.9 for Medi Tel

   

Spice Corp. to set up it’s headquaters at Singapore (India)

  • August 18th, 2008
  • 8:24 am

Spice Corp., will be setting up its global headquarters in Singapore.

According to Spice Corp. chief BK Modi, Singapore was the choice due to its proximity to the fast-growing “Israel-to-Indonesia” market.

This region has nearly half the world’s population and hasa mobile phone penetration rate of 35%, presenting a large market for growth.

As part of its investment in Singapore, an entertainment complex is also to be set up in the city-state, which will offer round-the-clock dining, shopping, movie screening and digital entertainment.

   

Proximus to lose it’s market share to Base - 2008-2010 forecast (Belgium)

  • August 14th, 2008
  • 8:16 am

Belgium’s mobile market has three main operators Proximus, Mobistar and Base and around 7 MVNOs. The incumbent’s Proximus unit controls just less than half of the market, and remains the only operator to have launched 3G services. The mobile market has room to grow both in terms of penetration and technology.
Notable highlights of the Belgium Mobile Forecast include:

  • The wireless penetration level of Belgium is gradually increasing, and it will reach 106,4% in 2010. The number of total subscribers will increase from the projected 10.78 million in 2008 to 10.53 million in 2010.
  • A significant drop in the market share for Proximus is forecasted. It’s current projected mobile market share (by subscribers) of 42.5% will drop to 41.2% in 2010. It is believed that most of the drop in market share will be taken up by Base.
  • Based on Q1.08 data, the ARPU forecasts are reversing. According to the forecast, Proximus and Mobistar will continue to receive similar ARPUs over the next three years. It will be US$46.43 per month for Proximus and US$47.72 per month for Mobistar in 2010.
  • Proximus will continue to enjoy the highest EBITDA margins in the Belgium operator space in 2010 at 47.3%.

   

Mobilkom to lose it’s market share to T-Mobile and Drei over next three years (Austria)

  • August 13th, 2008
  • 12:11 pm

Austria, one of the highest mobile penetration rates in Europe has the subscriber base is fiercely contested by four network operators and a growing number of MVNOs, with the result that Austrians have some of Europe’s lowest tariffs. The four 3G networks have seen impressive growth, largely at the expense of existing GSM offerings. The incumbent’s mobile division, Mobilkom, has expanded to Eastern Europe to incorporate lucrative neighbouring markets, and in 2006 it secured a 3G licence in Slovenia and was the sole applicant for a Serbian licence but may lose market share over the next three years.
Notable highlights of the 2008 - 2010 Austria Mobile Forecast include:

  • The level of wireless penetration in Austria will be increasing smoothly, and it will reach 120.8% in 2010. Total subscribers in the country will increase from our projected 8.5 million in 2008 to our forecasted 9.8 million in 2010.
  • It is believed that the largest operator in the country - Mobilkom (Telekom Austria) - will be losing its market shares to T-Mobile and Drei over the next three years. Mobilkom’s market share (by subscribers) is expected to fall from 44.2% in 2008 to 41.4% in 2010.

   

Hungary’s mobile market profile (Hungary)

  • August 13th, 2008
  • 11:49 am

Hungary’s mobile market, like that of its Central European counterparts, has matured with penetration rates surpassing 100%. Services are offered by three mobile network operators, T-Mobile, Pannon (Telenor), and Vodafone all of which are majority or wholly owned by Western European operators. However, all is not well for the mobile operators, with ARPU levels in decline for some time although the latest data shows the end may be in sight, with falling ARPU levels showing signs of stabilisation. Mobile broadband usage is increasingly coming into focus, with a growing variety of affordable mobile broadband plans coupled with mobile content and applications available via EDGE, UMTS and HSDPA networks.
Notable highlights of the Hungary Mobile Forecast 2008 - 2010 are:

  • Total subscribers in Hungary will increase from 11.8 million in 2008 to our forecasted 13 million in 2010.
  • It is estimated that wireless penetration levels in Hungary will increase from 115% to 126.2% over the forecast period of 2008 - 2010.
  • Market shares of major operators will remain roughly the same over the next several years in Hungary. T-Mobile, Pannon (Telenor), and Vodafone will continue to have approximately 43.7%, 36%, and 20.8% of total subscribers in the country.
  • The three operators will continue to see similar ARPU levels. The ARPU levels in Hungary are generally increasing, and they will be in the range of US$ 30 - US$ 32 across operators in 2010.

Iran’s mobile market profile (Iran)

  • August 8th, 2008
  • 2:08 pm

Iran with a population over twice as high as any other of the countries of the Middle East has low mobile penetration levels. This scenario is changing and the market is seeing high mobile growth, particularly since the launch of a second national operator in late 2006. During 2007 the Iranian government announced that it would split up and sell off the state owned Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI), as part of its program to privatise 80% of state-owned businesses. Previously the telecom market was a state-owned monopoly with the exception of retail Internet service provision.

Irancell and TCI are currently the only two mobile operators working in Iran.

MegaFon, Russia’s third largest mobile operator, is ready to invest around €3 billion ($4.6 billion) in its business in Iran. In addition, UAE-based Etisalat, the second-largest Arab phone company by market value, is considering investments in Iran’s mobile-phone market.

   

Brazil’s mobile market profile (Brazil)

  • August 8th, 2008
  • 6:06 am

Brazil’s mobile market is the fifth largest in the world, in terms of subscribers. Although Brazil holds almost one third of all the mobile users in Latin America, its mobile penetration is lower than the regional average. Brazil is lagging behind the rest of the region in SMS traffic, with text messages cost more than any other Latin American country. Number portability is to be implemented by March 2009. A 3G-spectrum auction in December 2007 was a huge success, and 2008 has been marked by 3G rollouts throughout the country with almost all operators – except for the market leader, Vivo – offering UMTS services.

A sale of 2.6 million mobile phones took place last month, Brazil reached 133.15 million mobile subscribers at the end of June’08, or 1.99% more than in May’08. The mobile penetration rate currently stands at 69.52 percent.

Brazil’s four major mobile operators, Vivo, TIM, Claro, and Oi, together hold about 91% of the market. Eight Brazilian mobile operators, Vivo, TIM Brasil, Claro, Oi, Brasil Telecom, Sercomtel, Nextel, and CTBC Telecom Celular, are reportedly functioning together to develop and launch IM services nationwide. Under the service the subscribers can exchange messages with users on each other’s network.

Vivo, Brazil’s number one mobile operator by subscribers, posted a net loss of BRL59.5 million (USD38 million) in the three months to end-June, EBITDA rose 16% from BRL756 million to BRL879 million . The subscriber base grew to 40.4 million subscribers, up by 19.4%, 7.7 million are post-paid and the remaining 32.7 pre-paid. Vivo leads with 30.36% market share this June.

Brasil Telecom earned a revenue of US$ 1.75 Billion, up by 2.9% in Q2′08, EBITDA reached US$ 0.70Billion (BRL 1.13 billion), up 16.4% BrT Movel registered 5 million mobile subscribers at the end of the period, up by 33.1% Brasil Telecom’s investments were estimated at US$ 509.8million (BRL 812.4 million), up by 168.5% versus last year, the reason being the 3G license acquisition and implementation of the new network.

Oi shows revenues up by 8.7%. Drop in Net profit, 46.8% to BRL 249 million, Mobile ARPU has improved to BRL 22.0 from BRL 21.3 in the first quarter, while churn increased to 6.8%.

   

Saudi Arabia’s Mobile Market profile

  • August 7th, 2008
  • 7:17 am

The Saudi Arabian telecom market is rapidly becoming a competitive market. The large population, fast growing economy, relatively low penetration rates and ingression of new operators like Zain make this market a potential one. The operators in Saudi Arabia are Saudi Telecom Communications (STC) and Mobily(Etisalat), whereas Zain has been provided with the third mobile licence, is still due to launch it’s services. Saudi Arabian mobile subscribers have recently grown to 27 mln, 109% penetration.

STC reported a net income of SAR 3,840 mn, up 24% YoY, compared to our 3,515 mn estimateand has a subscriber base of 18 mn at end of June 08.

The second mobile operator of Saudi Arabia, Mobily (Etisalat), is growing it’s subscriber base rapidly which is just above 8 million, increasing by 32% and net profits grew 47% at the end of June.

Zain is looking to commercially launch its 2G/3G network on August 15, 15 months after announcing that its consortium had been selected as the winner of the kingdom’s third mobile licence in March 2007 at a cost of US$6.11 billion.

PS: According to the sources, Verizon-led consortium has won initial approval to operate Saudi Arabia’s new fixed-line phone network. It would operate with $300 million capital and invest $3 billion linking 21 cities in seven years to its optical wire fixed-line network.

Morocco’s mobile penetration grows to 69.43% (Morocco)

  • August 6th, 2008
  • 9:48 am

The number of mobile subscribers in Morocco grew to 21.412 million in Q2′08 from 20.616 million. Mobile penetration is now 69.43%, a raise of 11.61% since last year. Maroc Telecom won the race by adding up maximum new subscribers, as it’s base rose to 14.211 million in June from 13.697 million in March. Meditel grew to 7.201 million subscribers from 6.919 million.

   

Argentina’s mobile market (Argentina)

  • August 4th, 2008
  • 2:17 pm

Argentina’s mobile market is the third largest in Latin America, after Brazil and Mexico and in terms of penetration, Argentina is the regional leader. The telecom sector has been growing rapidly, with a penetration of 75% mobile telephony. The three operators, Movistar, Claro, and Telecom Personal, run a close competition for market share. Besides the three main cellular providers, Nextel operates an iDEN network with a small but profitable slice of the market. GSM is the main technology in Argentina, with TDMA and CDMA slated to disappear after June 2008.
All three companies launched 3G services over HSDPA networks in 2007. Approximately 136,000 subscribers use 3G services in Argentina.

Country                       No. of 3G Users
Telecom Personal             75,000
Claro                              50,500
Movistar                         10,500

 

*Total subscribers in Argentina will increase from 38.03 million in 2007 to 44 million in 2010.
* The two largest operators - Movistar Argentina and CTI - will continue to have very similar market shares (by subscribers). It is forecasted that Movistar will increase its current market share from a projected 35.6% in 2007 to 36.8% in 2010 while CTI’s market share will drop slightly to 32.8% in 2010.
* Telecom Argentina will continue to suffer from the highest churn rate in the country at 3% monthly churn rate from 2007 to 2010.
*It is forecasted that Movistar Argentina will have the lowest EBITDA margin of 30.4% in 2010 in Argentina. On the other hand, Telecom Argentina, CTI, and Nextel will enjoy higher EBITDA margins at around 35% - 40% in 2010.
*In 2010 Nextel, will provide services to 2.9% of total subscribers, will receive the highest ARPU of $48.2 per month. It is noted that this is 3 times higher than the closest competitor, Telecom Argentina.