A new report by Dittberner Associates, an international market research and consulting firm specializing in the telecommunications industry, although mobile subscriber growth for the third quarter of 2008 surpassed 3.6 billion, quarter on quarter growth was only 4 percent.
The table below shows the growth breakdown amongst the 150 mobile wireless operators surveyed.
The report reveals some surprising revelations. One is that 17 percent of operators saw a drop in active mobile subscribers in the third quarter. This decline was seen mostly in Western Europe where many markets have reached or even exceeded 100 percent penetration per capita.
With the rise of third generation (3G) services, it is not unusual that the most growth was seen in developing markets or by operators that focus on 3G services.
Figure 1 shows that while the total wireless subscriber base is penetrating all regions of the globe, 3G is still mostly found in the more developed global markets.
Dittberner ( News - Alert) believes that 3G is following the same development path as fixed broadband did. But with China awarding 3G licenses, India thinking about it and Brazil rolling out 3G services, the mobile broadband market is predicted to speed up its growth. However, it remains unknown whether 3G will rescue the weak revenue growth for operators.
The Global Subscriber Survey covers 331 service providers in 81 countries representing 97 percent of the world’s population and 98 percent of the telecom market.
The survey examines subscribers in 10 different service categories, including: Legacy Switched Voice, Fixed Broadband, Fixed VoIP, Telco IPTV ( News - Alert), Cable TV, 2G/2.5G Mobile Wireless, 3G Mobile Wireless, TV Homes Passed, 2-Way TV Homes Passed, Fiber Homes Passed and Unbundled LOOPs. These categories are further analyzed by Quarter, Region, Subregion, Country, and Operator.
The report serves as is an ongoing market research service that is updated on a quarterly basis and is designed to track the BBxDSL and BBFTTX vendors and their market potential. The study is comprised of business cases, case studies, and market forecast.
The Broadband Study provides market insight for carriers by informing them on lessons learned and gives vendor selection advice to lower decision-making risk. With the report, vendors learn about carrier priorities, competitive threats, and niche market opportunities.
Dittberner Associates was founded in 1966 as an international market research and consultancy. It currently serves more than 100 Telecom Service Providers, and 100 telecom suppliers. The company focuses on OSS/BSS, NGN Switching, Broadband Access, and Wireless market segments.
Michelle Robart is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Michelle's articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Michelle Robart
|