Europe's Mobile Market Penetration is Set to Breach 100% in 2006 or Early 2007

DUBLIN, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 22, 2005--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c28137) has announced the addition of 2006 Western European Mobile Communications Market to their offering.

Europe's mobile market has shown consistent growth for several years. By the end of 2005, mobile penetration in the majority of EU countries approached of exceeded 100%, and growth continued to be strong in most markets. Europe's regional penetration is set to breach 100% in 2006 or early 2007. 3G will be an important catalyst for further growth during the next few years, with consumers buying mobile phones and SIM cards to gain access to new services. The major focus of activity has consistently been in the Nordic countries, the UK, Germany, France and Italy, where the EC's regulatory framework has been most stringently applied. GSM remains the dominant platform, accounting for 97% of all subscribers, of whom about 80% were on prepaid plans. SMS remains the most successful data service, accounting for 15-20% of many operators' revenues in 2005, and up to 95% of data revenues.

The Western European mobile phone market reported a 15% growth during the first half of 2005. This has largely been due to the rapid development of product features and new product designs. About 30% of mobile phones sold in June 2005 had Bluetooth functionality, while 20% of GSM and 95% of 3G phones had MP3 or similar technology on board. Europe is also an important laboratory for 3G networks and services, and for emerging technologies such as EDGE and HSDPA. Mobile TV has been launched in several markets, and take-up will proceed as data-volume charges fall and capable handsets become mainstream. Nevertheless, ARPU declined for much of 2005, particularly in Scandinavia. In the year to June 2005, mobile ARPU fell by 2% in Western Europe. The mobile subsidiaries of incumbent telcos have been hardest hit, although they continue to be the most important mobile operators in their respective countries across Europe, as the plethora of no-frills operators and MVNOs make their mark in a ruthless competitive environment.

This annual report offers the latest data, statistics and analysis on the Mobile communications market in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Malta, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Subjects include:

-- Trends, Analyses, Players, Revenues, Subscribers, Prepaid;

-- Spectrum Auctions and Licenses, Developments, National Policies;

-- Infrastructure, GSM, CDMA, 3G;

-- Mobile Data Markets -- SMS, MMS, GRPS, EDGE, WAP;

-- Developments in HSDPA, HSCSD;

-- BlackBerry, i-mode and Vodafone live! services;

-- Location-Based Services; Push-to-Talk;

-- Mobile Satellite Services, Mobile TV, DVB-H.

Companies featured in the report include:

-- O2

-- Orange

-- Telefonica

-- Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM)

-- T-Mobile

-- Vodafone

-- FreeMove

-- Starmap

-- Connect Austria

-- Hutchinson 3G Austria

-- mobilkom

-- tele.ring

-- Belgacom Mobile (Proximus)

-- Mobistar

-- BASE (KPN Orange)

-- TDC

-- Sonofon

-- Telia Danmark

-- TeliaSonera

-- Finnet Corporation

-- Radiolinja Ab

-- Elisa Corporation

-- SFR

-- Bouygues Telecom

-- E-Plus

-- Iceland Telecom (Siminn)

-- Meteor Mobile Communications

-- H3

-- TIM

-- Wind

-- LuxGSM

-- Tango

-- MobIsle Communications / go mobile

-- KPN

-- Telfort

-- Telenor Mobil

-- NetCom

-- Teletopia

-- Optimus

-- OniWay

-- Telefonica Moviles

-- Amena

-- Telia Mobile

-- Swisscom Mobile

-- TDC (Sunrise)

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c28137