Australia - Mobile Communications - Substitution, Capped prices, FMC

Synopsis

This report has been archived and has not been update. Substitution has started rather late in Australia. While Vodafone had threatened with it for many years, it was Hutchison that led the charge in 2003 and 2004 but it was not until 2005 before some real action took place. Telstra reported a drop of 7% in fixed line, mainly seeing these customers moving over to mobile. Further price cuts are needed to bring Australia in line with the rest of the world. A forecast of substitution till 2010 is provided. Mobile caps are now a key sales driver in the overall market. Optus’ capped plan subscribers have been increasing and now reach 32% of total base. In a similar development, Hutchison has introduced innovative products and aggressive flat-rate pricing for its mobile data offerings. Substitution will also fuel to developments in fixed-mobile convergence market. However wireless broadband could even play a bigger role here.