Softbank still ahead of KDDI in terms of user additions (Japan)
Japanese telecommunications operators, Softbank Corp. and KDDI Corp., have been competing with each other in an attempt to increase their presence in the growing smartphone market. According to reports, Softbank has once again emerged as the winner in terms of user additions by the operators. As per sources, Softbank reported net additions of 247,600 new mobile subscribers in October, while KDDI added 196,900 subscribers during the same period.
According to industry reports, Softbank was the sole carrier of the iPhone and had a monopoly on the market for three years, till Apple appointed KDDI to sell its latest iPhone 4S. KDDI Corp.’s broader network for new subscribers indicating better reception was considered by many analysts to further intensify competition between the two firms.
Russia totaled 600,000 mobile subscribers in February
A report has revealed that in Russia the mobile subscriber base totaled 220.55 million at the end of February. The base size grew by 0.3% i.e 600,000 customers, month-on-month.
Market penetration totaled 151.9%. In Moscow, the number of mobile subscribers rose 0.7% to 34.7 million, while the number reached 12.98 million in St Petersburg growing by 0.4%.
Brazil ends Feb with 207.5 mn mobile subscribers
A research report from Antel has unveiled that Brazil ended February 2011 with over 207.5 million mobile phone subscribers.
Pre-paid phones accounted for 82.23 percent (170.7 million), while the remaining 17.77 percent were post-paid (36.9 million).
In February, the national mobile penetration rate stood at 106.91. The net addition of 2.43 million new phones in February represented a growth of 1.18 percent compared to January.
Totaling January and February figures, there were 4.6 million new additions in 2011, a growth of 2.28 percent compared to 2010. Also last month, mobile broadband terminals (3G) totaled 23.5 million (growth of 14.34% year-on- year).
Canada to have 28 million subscribers by 2012
A new research report has revealed that Canada will have 28 million mobile subscribers in 2012 with Bell Mobility’s market share decreasing over the next two years. Given the latest quarter numbers, their model forecasts that Telus Mobility will be replacing Bell Mobility (excluding Virgin Mobile) as the second largest mobile operator in Canada after Rogers Wireless in 2012.
Researchers also forecast that market shares of Telus Mobility and Bell Mobility will be 27.3% and 27% respectively by the end of 2012. They expect the entry of new mobile operators such as Videotron and Wind Mobile to take greater market share away from Bell relative to Telus, given Bell’s stronger presence in Central Canada and the new entrants’ focus in that part of the country.
As per the researchers, the wireless penetration rate in Canada is still relatively low compared to other developed countrie and they expect that the Canadian wireless market will continue to grow. According to the forecasting model, the number of mobile subscriber connections in Canada will increase from 25.3 million in 2010 to approximately 28 million by the end of 2012. The competitive dynamics in the Canadian mobile operator space are changing rapidly as new entrants increase their market shares. They forecast that the subscriber market share of the largest operator, Rogers Wireless, will be about 35.6% in the end of 2012.
Finally, the report predicts that Rogers Wireless will be enjoying the highest level of profitability in the Canadian wireless market during the forecast period. Their model is predicting that Rogers Wireless’s EBITDA margins will remain above 50% over the next eight quarters.
China mobile subscribers cross 850 million mark in 2010
The number of mobile phone subscribers in China has reportedly exceeded 850 million last year as more Chinese people began to consider mobile phones everyday necessities.
According to the report from the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the net addition of Chinese mobile users reached a record high of more than 100 million in 2010 alone.
The number is equivalent to 60% of the country’s estimated population of 1.4 billion for 2010.
During the January-November period in 2010, 103 million users were newly subscribed to the country’s mobile phone services. The figure is estimated to have surpassed 110 million as of the end of December.
The report showed that the number of fixed-line subscribers dropped 153.9 million to 298 million during the period.
In the first 11 months of last year, the Chinese telecom industry’s revenue was estimated to be US$123.56 billion, up by 6.6% on-year.
Sales from mobile telecom business made up 70% of the industry’s total business revenue, while fixed-line business accounted for about 30%.
Mobile Subscribers in the UAE to grow at 7% CAGR by 2012
The number of mobile subscribers in the UAE is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of over 7% during 2009-2012, says RNCOS in its research report.
Our research report Booming UAE Telecom Sector†shows that the UAE’s telecommunication market has shown tremendous growth during the past few years, mainly propelled by the government initiatives aimed at the deregulation of the market and introduction of competition. Our research reveals that penetration in the mobile market reached around 190% in 2008, leaving less room for operators to acquire further advantage of the market. But this doesn’t indicate the end of growth as the number of mobile subscribers is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of over 7% during 2009-2012. Our report has discussed factors behind the growth of mobile market and telecommunication market in the UAE.
In line with the increasing education and business in the region, the demand for Internet services has also increased during the past few years. Although dial-up subscriptions currently dominates the Internet market, we project broadband subscribers to account for more than half of the Internet subscribers in coming few years. Our study provides a deep analysis on all segments including mobile market, fixed-line market, Internet market, and broadband market with their current market and future outlook.
With robust economic growth and rise in disposable income, various industries in the UAE are performing well. These mainly include the retail industry, banking industry, insurance industry, etc. Growth in these industries is driving the demand for ICT products in the country, as there is a rising demand for Internet usage in these industries to stay connected with the rest of the world. Our study shows that including huge domestic demand, there are also many other drivers that are fuelling growth in the UAE telecom market.
There has been a mass migration of users from traditional voice-only mobiles to more sophisticated third-generation mobile technology. As a result, there has been an upsurge in the sales of 3G mobile phones in the UAE. The emerging 3G markets present tremendous growth potential for the content and application providers in the UAE, as 3G helps mobile users to access various WAP-enabled websites on mobiles. Besides, we have studied other emerging markets in the UAE telecom sector.
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Strong subscriber growth but flat revenues for telcos in Q1
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Out of the 175 million new subscribers or revenue sources added during the three months ended March 31, 2010, some 70% came from the Asia/Pacific region. India and China remained the dominant players in the telecom sector in terms of wireless subscriber numbers and accounting for 54% of all net new subscribers in the quarter, thus becoming the sole drivers of regional growth.
Both Indonesia and Vietnam joined India and China in the first quarter in the top six groups of wireless growth markets. Brazil and the USA were the only non-Asian countries in the half dozen. 112 million mobile subscribers were added by the six countries together during the three-month period. However, the scene was not very rosy for Western Europe as for the first time it saw a decline in its wireless subscriber base, albeit by a small amount.
With just 41% of quarterly additions by Asia/pacific region, broadband subscriber growth was distributed more evenly across the regions. Western Europe and North America are adding substantial numbers of subscribers each quarter with each region contributing 16% of the quarterly additions. China, the United States, Russia, India and the Philippines were the top five growth countries with France, Brazil and Germany all close behind.
A decline of 2.1% revenue over the previous quarter is also significant as there has been some seasonal storm in the market and a drop in Q1 is not unusual, but this drop is substantially bigger than that seen twelve months ago. India has seen an amazing 50% growth in wireless subscribers over the last twelve months and now has almost 600 million subscribers but still there is not a single Indian operator in the list of top 30 service providers by revenue.
The reason is that the big subscriber growth numbers are coming from countries where ARPUs are low and intense competition is pushing them even lower. Meanwhile, brutal price competition has had a sharply negative impact on Indian service providers’ revenue growth.
MNP aimed by Azerbaijan later this year
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The mobile subscribers of Azerbaijan can enjoy the facility of Mobile Number Portability later this year as the plans of Ministry of Communications and Information Technology have been submitted to the Cabinet for approval.
There is one issue outstanding and the mobile operators and stationary communication operators have to reach agreement after which the service will be implemented by the government.
Azercell, which was the first candidate to apply for a 3G license may get it this year. However, it was earlier reported that other mobile operator, Azerfon, had already been granted a 3G license.
Indian mobiles set to get 11 digit numbers
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Get ready to add one more digit to your already difficult to remember mobile number from January next year. National Numbering Plan 2003 has been amended by Department of Telecommunications (DoT), migrating the current 10 digit numbers to an 11-digit numbering plan in mobile services.
As per the amendment, an extra ‘9′ would be prefixed to the existing two-digit PLMN Access Code. According to an internal DoT note, the proposed migration may be implemented from January 10, 2010.
Earlier, number ‘2′ was prefixed to all BSNL and MTNL fixed-line phones across the country a few years ago to accommodate more connections.
Every service provider has its own PLMN, identified by Mobile Country Code (MCC) and the Mobile Network Code (MNC). The PLAM connects with internet service providers for data and internet access and interconnects with other PlAMs and public switched telephone networks (PSTNs) for telephone communications.
The unexpected growth in India’s mobile subscribers has made this numbering plan imminent. With 10-14 million mobile subscribers added to the list every month, the wireless subscriber base has already crossed 500 million, making it compulsory for DoT to re-examine plans in order to accommodate more subscribers.
