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Wireless Federation » archive for 'Mobile Subscribers'

Orange Senegal commenced test of HSDPA services in Darkar (Senegal)

  • August 21st, 2008
  • 1:50 pm

According to a media report, Senegalese mobile operator Orange Senegal (formerly Sonatel Mobiles) has begun tests of high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) services in Dakar. First mobile provider of Senegal is Orange Senegal have launched its services in September 1996. Statistics reveals that the operator had 3.042 million subscribers at the end of June this year, a market share of around 67%. Orange Senegal is ahead of the country’s second wireless operator Tigo Senegal with 1.678 million.

Each mobile subscriber averaged 137 SMS per month in Q2′08 (Portugal)

  • August 21st, 2008
  • 11:26 am

According to a market regulator, Portugal had 14.3 million mobile telephony subscribers at the end of June, an increase of 4.8 percent on the previous quarter and 15.5 percent year-on-year.

Statistics shows (Q2′08)

  • Post-paid users increased by 2.9%
  • 151,000 post-paid subscribers are added
  • Prepaid cards grow 4.6 percent
  • More than 1.83 billion calls are made
  • Each mobile subscriber send more than four messages per day
  • Mobile phone users sent 5.86 billion SMS

MTN, uganda telecom and WARID battling over prices!(Uganda)

  • August 21st, 2008
  • 10:37 am

MTN, uganda telecom (utl) and WARID having tussle over prices. Low rates are being offered by each company within the same network to lure subscribers. MTN recently launched MTN Zone, a tariff structure that offers discounts of up to 99%. The more capacity available, the greater the discount at the time of making the call, the Chief Commercial Officer, Erik Van Veen, said. Discount varies according to the amount of traffic in particular areas. The more phone usage in  an area, the lower the discount and vice versa. The discounts are on a per second basis.

Newcomers are trying to pull MTN’s dominance from the market by giving heavy dicounts. WARID’s, Megabonus pushes the bar even higher in the tariff war. Under the promotion, subscribers can talk for free 24 hours after loading airtime. The free calls are only to WARID subscribers. Zain launched Chacha where calls within the network cost sh3 per second.

TMN will continue to be more profitable than Telecel Vodafone (Portugal)

  • August 20th, 2008
  • 2:04 pm

TMN, Telecel Vodafone and Optimus is serving Portugal’s mobile market. Mobile penetration is above the EU average. Growth is driven by the popularity of using multiple SIMs. MVNO market is undeveloped, partly though network operators having their own low-cost schemes. However, further competition in this sector is expected. TMN continues to enjoy higher profitability than Vodafone.

Notable highlights of  Portugal Mobile Forecast include:

  • The wireless market in Portugal will be growing somewhat slowly compared to many other European countries.  Number of total subscribers will increase from our projected 14.7 million in 2008 to a forecasted 15.1 million in 2010. In 2010, the wireless penetration level in the country will reach 139.8%.
  • Market shares (by subscribers) of the two largest operators will remain roughly the same over the next few years in Portugal. TMN, Telecel Vodafone and Optimus will continue to have approximately 44%, 35% and 20% of total subscribers respectively over the next three years.
  • TMN will continue to be more profitable than Telecel Vodafone, and we forecast that its EBITDA margin will be 43.2% in 2010. On the other hand, the EBITDA margin of Telecel Vodafone will continue to remain low at 35%.

Telekom Austria net profit slipped 18.6%, subscriber base grew by 52.5% (Austria)

  • August 20th, 2008
  • 12:23 pm

Telekom Austria Group shows a revenue growth by 7.7 percent year-on-year to EUR 2.536 billion for the first six months of this year which is driven by continued growth of international mobile revenues and the consolidation of Belarusian mobile operator Velcom. Its operating income falls 4.9% to EUR 389.9 million due to higher depreciation and amortization charges, and the net profit dropped 18.6% to EUR 226.0 million due to higher interest expenses mainly as a result of the acquisition of Velcom. Due to the inclusion of Velcom and the launch of Vip mobile in Serbia and Vip operator in Macedonia during the fourth quarter of 2007, mobile subscriber base grew by 52.5 percent year-on-year to 16.5 million. Mobile Communication segment, revenues and EBITDA are expected to grow by about 10 percent due to strong international operations, primarily driven by the consolidation of Velcom in Belarus as well as improving results from the start-up operations in Serbia and Macedonia.

Choose your own LDC plan (India)

  • August 20th, 2008
  • 6:31 am

Regardless of the service provider, Customers can now select the economical STD and ISD tariffs. As internet telephony is open, TRAI is going to make mandate that telcos should offer ther subscribers the liberty to select a carrier of their choice for making long-distance calls, whether domestic (STD) or international (ISD).

This will surely going to give rise to stiff competition in the market, provided the government should act swiftly to modify the licence conditions that enables telcos comply with the TRAI directive.

Suppose, customer is a Vodafone Subscriber and finds out that BSNL is offering the cheapest long-distance tariffs. So the customer can buy a  a pre-paid long-distance package from BSNL for a specific duration.Customer have to punch a set of numbers specified in the package to get on to the BSNL network, and then proceed to make the long-distance call, and talk for as long as your pre-paid package permits.

Idea clicks Mumbai (India)

  • August 18th, 2008
  • 11:45 am

Aditya Birla group’s Idea Cellular has got the approval from Indian government to launch wireless telephony services in Mumbai. According to an Aditya Birla group official, the services will be formally launched in the next few days with the entire infrastructure now in place. The company has set up a network of 200-odd stores to offer its services, official added. The official said all beta tests were successful and now the sales and marketing team would takeover for the rollout of the operations. Idea Cellular said it had set aside Rs 650 crore for the Mumbai roll out from its initial public offering funds raised in February last year.

According to Cellular Operators Association of India statistics till end July, Idea would be the seventh wireless telephony services provider in Mumbai which has more than 10 million customers with Vodafone Essar leading the pack with 37.89 lakh customers.

Subscribers in Italy will reach the mark of 96.8 mln in 2010

  • August 18th, 2008
  • 5:57 am

Italy has one of Europe’s most lively mobile markets, supported by a large population keen to try new services. Italy has the third highest penetration rate in the world with a 100% penetration rate in the 15 to 54 age range. With little room for growth in terms of subscriber numbers, competition between operators turns to pricing strategies which will cause ARPU to fall by 3.4% year on year from $34.7pcm in 2005 to $32.4pcm in 2007. Rising ARPU from data services and the ability of operators to distinguish themselves via data services remains the best opportunity for operators to stem falling ARPU.The market is dominated by three operators, while a fourth, 3 Italia, has struggled to make a profit or significantly expand its customer base. All four providers operate 3G networks, while investments in network upgrades have provided rich opportunities for mobile data use among consumers.

Notable highlights of Italy Mobile Forecast include:

  • Wireless penetration levels in Italy will increase from our projected 156.4% in 2008 to our forecasted 163.4% (previously 165.3%) in 2010.
  • Total subscribers in Italy to increase from 92.5 million in 2008 to 96.8 million in 2010.
  • In 2010, market shares (by subscribers) of the four major operators in Italy will be 40.1%, 32.7%, 16.7% and 9.8% for TIM, OPI Vodafone, Wind, and 3 (Hutchison) respectively.

Alltel mobile subscribers up by 76% y/y (USA)

  • August 15th, 2008
  • 11:20 am

Alltel shows vibrant growth in the number of subscribers in the second quarter. As Alltel net customer addidtions increased 76% year-on-year. Post-paid additions were up by 20%, Prepaid additions were 99,089. Total churn posted was 1.92% and post-paid churn was 1.21%. At the end of the quarter Alltel reports 13.49 million subscribers. Monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) was USD54.42, up 1% year-on- year. Data revenue per customer was USD8.18, up 45% on the same period twelve months previously.

For the completion of company’s November 2007 merger with an affiliate of TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners leads to loss of $69.9 million. EBITDA was  USD898.3 million for the second quarter, a 15% increase on the same period in 2007. By the end of the 2008, it is anticipated that Verizon will acquire Alltel for $28.1 billion, dependant on the regulatory approval.

   

Latin America mobile subscribers reaches the mark of 400 mln

  • August 14th, 2008
  • 8:11 am

According to new figures from the industry analyst, the number of mobile connections in Latin America exceeded 400 million in the first half of this year. Mobile penetration rate is 72%. Also operators  are now turning to data services boost revenues. It is also forecasted that mobile connections in the Americas will reach 550 million by 2010, while penetration at the same date will stand at 93%. Top five penetration markets, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, and Venezuela have 76% of the region’s mobile subscribers, or 312 million connections.

Analyst also made reference to Spain’s Telefonica, the second-largest telecoms group in Latin America after America Movil, which in June announced plans to create a mobile advertising alliance across its operations in Europe and Latin America. Statistics reveals that Telefonica had just under 104.5 million mobile customers in Latin America at the end of the first quarter, or 70 million excluding Vivo, in which it holds a 50% stake only. The Spanish telco is still dwarfed by Carlos Slim’s America Movil, which claimed 146.3 million at the same date. Telecom Italia comes in a distant third with 48.4 million, followed by Millicom International Group with 16.2 million and Telecom Argentina with 12.6 million.