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Orange Polska: Mobile telephony penetration at 148%, broadband internet - at 18.9% in June [IntelliNews - Weekly Reports]
[August 03, 2014]

Orange Polska: Mobile telephony penetration at 148%, broadband internet - at 18.9% in June [IntelliNews - Weekly Reports]


(IntelliNews - Weekly Reports Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The mobile voice market is in a saturation phase in terms of the number of users, according to Orange Polska - the country's landline telecom incumbent and owner of one of the three biggest mobile operators in Poland (Orange). The number of mobile SIM cards increased by 0.6% from Dec 31 of 2013, driving the mobile penetration rate (among population) to 148% at the end of June of 2014, the telecom reported.



As at the end of June, Orange Polska had a mobile SIM card base of 15.5mn, which is an increase of 514 thousand or 3.4% r/r. The growth was driven mainly by a 489 thousand expansion of the post-paid customer base, which grew by 7.0% y/y to 7,459 thousand. Orange Polska stresses that the growth of the customer base is a positive sign, especially in the context of very aggressive competition; e.g. P4 (the Play network operator) changed its offer several times in last six months. Orange Polska's progress in the mobile market was helped by the success of its second mobile brand, nju.mobile. Its take-up had exceeded 560 thousand (including 131 thousand in post-paid) since its launch in April of 2013. As a result of intensified marketing activity, in H1 of 2014, Orange Polska reported a positive number portability balance (+5,600) for the first time since 2008. All in all, the group's customer base increased by 3.4% y/y to 15,461 thousand at the end of June of 2014.

According to group's estimates, the total number of fixed broadband access lines at the end of June of 2014 was up by 0.6% compared to the end of December of 2013. Consequently, this shows that the market grew at a slower pace than in H1 of 2013 (+0.7% compared to the end of December of 2012). The telecom attributed the slow down mainly to the popularisation of mobile broadband access, which, depending on the price option, may be either substitute of or complementary to fixed broadband access. The penetration of fixed broadband services in Poland's population reached 18.9% by the end of June of 2014, compared to 18.8% at the end of 2013.


Orange Polska estimates that the value of the fixed broadband market in H1 of 2014 grew by 1.5% year-on-year, versus a 6.0% increase in the first six months of 2013.

(c) 2014 Emerging Markets Direct Media Holdings LLC Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).

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