Irish communications market worth EUR 1.09 bln in Q3, up 3%

The Irish communications market grew 3 percent in the third quarter to a value of EUR 1.09 billion, according to market regulator ComReg’s quarterly survey. Voice traffic in the country increased 4 percent in the quarter to a total of 4.26 million minutes, including both fixed and mobile calls, while access lines increased marginally to 2.1 million. ComReg counted 881,000 internet subscribers on the copper telecoms network at the end of the quarter, of which 36 percent used DSL. Adding cable, wireless and satellite, there were almost 1 million internet subscribers, of which 44 percent used broadband. The number of broadband users rose 17 percent in the quarter to 436,700, while Wi-Fi hot spots were up 35 percent to nearly 2,500.The fixed-line segment continued to account for just over half the market, growing revenues by 5.2 percent in the period. Incumbent eircom’s share of the fixed-line market fell to 72 percent from 74 percent in the second quarter. In the mobile market, revenues rose slightly from the previous quarter to EUR 480 million. the number of subscribers increased to 4.5 million, equal to a penetration of 106 percent of the population. Some 75 percent of subscribers use prepaid services. Vodafone remains market leader with 47.6 percent of both subscribers and revenues, followed by O2 at 36.6 percent of subscribers and 41.2 percent of revenues. Smaller rival Meteor however has been growing quickly, boostng its share of revenues to 11.9 percent from 6.1 percent a year ago.

Source-  telecompaper  Wireless Mobile Telecom