2013 Ireland - Telecoms, IP Networks, Digital Media and Forecasts

Eircom commits to network investment despite high debt

BuddeComm’s annual publication, Ireland - Telecoms, IP Networks, Digital Media and Forecasts, provides a comprehensive overview of the trends and developments in the telecommunications and digital media sectors in one of Europe’s smaller markets struggling with ongoing economic challenges. The report includes the regulator’s market data to Q3 2012, telco’s operating and financial data to September 2012 and market developments to February 2013.

Telecom market overview

Overall telecoms network and service revenue has fallen steadily in recent years, largely due to dire economic conditions, high unemployment and the emigration of a significant number of the country’s younger demographic (which has also resulted in stagnant broadband and mobile take-up). Although the telecom market is highly competitive, with some 460 licensed operators, eircom remains the de facto dominant operator in the country’s fixed-voice market while broadband competition has for long been stymied by lacklustre implementation of LLU and by the government’s protection of eircom’s market lead. Yet the growing presence of MVNOs and the entry of operators such as Vodafone into the fixed-voice market promise greater changes in coming years.

Broadband market

Broadband penetration remains below the EU average, while the DSL sector in particular has fared poorly: Ireland has long been a late developer in broadband infrastructure and take-up, while years of underinvestment in DSL networks have encouraged customers to migrate to UPC’s cable offerings. Yet the government and regulator have made encouraging moves to address the country’s low broadband development, issuing a revised National Broadband Plan aimed at delivering a 30Mb/s service across the country by 2015, and with at least half the population to access at least 70Mb/s. The government is investing €175 million in the scheme while the regulator has ruled that eircom must make new fibre-optic networks it deploys available to alternative operators. Coupled with UPC’s Fibrepower offering the country’s broadband take-up should see a significant boost in coming years, with data rates geared to reaching the EC’s target for 2020.

Key telecom parameters – 2010; 2013

(Source: BuddeComm)

Market Highlights

• Growth in the number of broadband connections has slowed in all sectors except cable, with overall growth less than 1% in 2012.
• The regulator’s ruling that eircom make its fibre networks available to alternative operators should stimulate FttC-based broadband adoption in coming years and boost competition among providers.
• VoB traffic now accounted for more than a tenth of all fixed voice minutes, placing greater strain on eircom’s revenue.
• The number of mobile subscribers grew by barely 1% in 2012 as the sector was affected by emigration, high unemployment and lower customer spend.

This report is essential reading for those needing high level strategic information and objective analysis on the telecom sector in Ireland. It provides further information on:

• Market liberalisation and regulatory issues;
• The impact of the global economic crisis;
• Telecoms operators – privatisation, acquisitions, new licences;
• Mobile data market developments in coming years in light of spectrum auctions and new license awards;
• 3G developments, regulatory issues and technologies including HSPA and LTE;
• Broadband migration to an FttH architecture;
• Historical and current subscriber statistics and forecasts;
• ARPU statistics and forecasts.

Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and may not be for the current year.