Infonetics: Europe’s Big 5 Push for Consolidation as Mobile Service Revenue Drags on the Global Market

CAMPBELL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Telecom market research firm Infonetics Research released excerpts from its latest 2G, 3G, LTE Mobile Services and Subscribers market size and forecast report, which tracks mobile service revenue, mobile voice and data average revenue per user (ARPU), and mobile voice and broadband subscribers.

The report shows that in 2013, mobile operators around the world took in $800 billion from mobile services—including mobile voice, SMS/MMS, and broadband—an increase of just 1% from the year before. When the growth rates of the world’s main regions are parsed individually, though, a clearer story emerges, as Asia Pacific (+5%), the Caribbean and Latin America (+4%), and North America (+3%) together offset a high single-digit decline in EMEA.

ANALYST NOTE

“Europe dragged global mobile service revenue again in 2013, plagued by mobile saturation and weak consumer spending across the board—even in Germany, the euro zone’s largest economy—and fierce price-based competition in markets including Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, and The Netherlands,” notes Stéphane Téral, principal analyst for mobile infrastructure and carrier economics at Infonetics Research.

Téral adds: “At this point, the CEOs of Europe’s BIG 5—Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Vodafone—are pushing the European Commission for more consolidation to reduce the number of operators in each country, from four or five to just three. The hope is this will restore operators’ revenue growth and margins, similar to what we saw in Austria.”

MOBILE SERVICES MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

• Mobile broadband fueled overall mobile service revenue growth in 2013, offsetting year-over-year decreases in voice and SMS revenue
• Despite the rise of mobile data, blended ARPU continues to fall or, at best, stay flat in every region except developing Asia Pacific, where it rose slightly in China
• Infonetics anticipates that mobile broadband subscribers will pass postpaid voice subscribers by the end of 2014
• Voice services are expected to stay above 50% of total mobile service revenue through 2016
• Mobile broadband revenue is forecast by Infonetics to grow at an 11.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2013 to 2018
• LTE services are expected to account for half of total mobile broadband service revenue in 2018, with North America making up the majority

MOBILE SERVICES REPORT SYNOPSIS

Infonetics’ biannual mobile services report provides worldwide and regional market size, forecasts through 2018, analysis, and trends for voice, SMS/MMS, and broadband mobile service revenue, ARPU, and subscribers by technology (GSM, W-CDMA/HSPA, TD-SCDMA, cdmaOne, CDMA2000/EV-DO, FDD-LTE, TDD-LTE). The report features a Mobile Broadband Service Tracker following service provider deployments by country, technology and number of subscribers. To buy report, contact Infonetics: www.infonetics.com/contact.asp.

RELATED REPORT EXCERPTS

• Infonetics’ June Mobile and Wireless research brief: http://bit.ly/1jl6sso
• Evolved packet core market more than doubles in 1Q14, offsetting 2G/3G skid
• China Mobile, AT&T, and Vodafone among world’s top M2M service providers
• EDGE and HSPA/HSPA+ holding steady in face of LTE blitz, shows IP RAN operator study
• Mobile M2M module market to nearly double to $2.9 billion by 2018
• China's huge LTE rollouts and EU network upgrades push carrier capex to $354B this year
• China Mobile increases capital intensity 6% year-over-year
• DAS market growth in N. America and Brazil offsets China slowdown
• Is Brazil mobile-ready for FIFA World Cup? Infonetics report says no

RECENT AND UPCOMING RESEARCH

Download Infonetics’ 2014 market research brochure, publication calendar, events brochure, report highlights, tables of contents, and more at www.infonetics.com/login.

• 3G & LTE Mobile Broadband Devices & Subscribers Forecast (June)
• Global Telecom & Datacom Market Trends & Drivers (June)
• LTE Strategies & Vendor Leadership: Global Service Provider Survey (July)

INFONETICS WEBINARS

Visit www.infonetics.com/infonetics-events to register for upcoming webinars, view recent webinars on demand, or learn about sponsoring a webinar.

• NFV: An Easier Initial Target Than SDN? (June 19: Attend)
• Diameter Signaling Control for LTE Networks (View on-demand)
• How to Get the Best Out of DAS, Small Cells, and WiFi (View on-demand)
• Security at the Speed of VoLTE (View on-demand)
• The Role of NFV in Mobile Networks (Sponsor)

TO BUY REPORTS, CONTACT:

N. America (West), Asia Pacific: Larry Howard, [e-mail], [phone]

N.A. (East, Midwest), L. America, EMEA: Scott Coyne, [e-mail], [phone]

Greater China, SE Asia, India: 大中华区 Jeffrey Song, [e-mail], [phone]

Japan 日本 Takashi Kimura, TAK Analytics, [e-mail], [phone]

South Korea 대한민국 Doug Moon, MBAP, [e-mail], [phone]

ABOUT INFONETICS

Infonetics Research (www.infonetics.com) is an international market research and consulting firm serving the communications industry since 1990. A leader in defining and tracking emerging and established technologies in all world regions, Infonetics helps clients plan, strategize, and compete effectively. View Infonetics’ About Us slides at http://bit.ly/QUrbrV.