re: GSM in Austria (New #1 in Penetration)
>> Austria Records End 2000 75.5% Penetration - As Finland Is Ousted From Second Slot
Dan Dickinson
Research Analyst
EMC
GSM penetration in Austria reached 75.5% (EMC World Cellular Database) at the end of 2000, up from 52% at the end of 1999. It is the highest rate in Western Europe, after Iceland. Based on December 2000 figures it compares to 77.3% in Iceland and 71.4% in Italy and 68.6% in Switzerland.
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Operator Subs YE 1999 Subs YE 2000 Market share YE 2000
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Mobilkom 2,235,650 2,800,000 45.5%
max.mobil 1,500,000 2,100,000 34.2%
Connect Austria 'ONE' 480,000 1,150,000 18.7%
tele.ring (May launch) 100,000 1.6%
Total 4,215,650 6,150,000 100%
Source: Operators, EMC Research
Mobilkom figure includes TACS D-Netz
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The GSM market in Austria is relatively small compared to the leading markets in Europe. Its high penetration rate is due partly to strong public awareness of the availability and value of mobile communications, but also the competitive nature of the market. The launch of tele.ring in May 2000, brought the number of operators to four serving a population of 8.14 million. Greater competition has brought lower tariffs and the development of more services.
What the operators say
Mobilkom
The former state monopoly said the sale of subscriptions boomed before Christmas 2000 with 130,000 new subscribers recorded in December 2000, 40% of all new subscribers in Austria according to the operator. It said its growth rate in 2000 had beaten expectations. For Christmas 2000, it was offering subscriptions for ATS 1000 (inclusive calls worth ATS 1000) with a 25% off handset prices.
Mobilkom targeted young subscribers from November 2000 with its prepaid tariff plans B-Free. The 'Komix' package which included a Nokia 3210 handset featured reduced call rates of ATS 4.20/min for weekday calls between 1300 and 1800 and all weekend calls.
The major network development at Mobilkom was the launch of a commercial GPRS service.
Subscribers were also able to use handsets throughout the Vienna subway network.
max.mobil
Austria's second largest operator reached its YE 2000 target of two million subscribers at the end of October 2000. It says its business tariff plans (max.business.class) have been particularly successful with its market share increasing from 20% at YE 1999 to 29% at October 2000. The VPN Option Zero for small and medium-sized companies, which allows free internal company calls, has been key to the success according to the operator. International roaming has also been improved with agreements with 191 partners in over 92 countries.
Prepaid has also performed well with max.mobil saying it is the market leader with 43%.
SMS has also been booming according to the operator with up to 200,000 SMSs recorded per hour on the network at peak times.
On the infrastructure front max.mobil increased its network capacity by introducing GSM-1800 across the country, providing a population coverage of 97%.
Connect Austria's ONE
Connect Austria's GSM-1800 ONE network bucked the trend for cheaper tariffs by increasing the cost of sending SMSs to between ATS 2/message and ATS 3/message from a flat rate of ATS 1/message. It also eradicated the difference between local and long distance calls to fixed lines within Austria by introducing a flat rate at all times of ATS 2/min for ONE Classic subscribers and ATS 3/min for ONE 99 subscribers. Connection costs for ONE Classic, ONE 99 and ONE Business packages were increased by ATS 99 to ATS 499. For prepaid subscribers, TAKE ONE Quickload was introduced enabling 24-hour a day telephone recharging for scratch cards.
The operator also boosted its retail infrastructure opening 35 ONE retail shops in addition to 1500 other retail outlets.
tele.ring
The GSM-1800 network launched in May 2000 and two new tariff options, tele.ring clever 60 and tele.ring clever 150 aimed at families, small businesses or friends were introduced in October 2000.
The Austrian telecommunications regulatory authority, Telekom Control Kommission (TCK), played its role in fueling the GSM boom calling on network operators to pass on cheaper interconnection charges to their customers. It said there had been little price competition on the mass market for around eighteen months. TCK also ordered a reduction in charges for rerouting mobile phone calls from ATS 2.20/min to ATS 1.90/min from August 2000. (As a new entrant to the market, tele.ring was permitted to continue levying a fee of ATS 2.70/min until further notice).
Handsets also became cheaper with retailers dramatically cutting prices including a March 2000 reduction in the price of the Ericsson T28s from ATA 9990 to ATS 990. With the market nearing saturation point dealers were saying that 90% of handsets are sold to existing GSM subscribers as opposed to new subscribers. <<
- Eric - |
