Europe - Mobile Data - Competition squeezing prices

Telecom Investment Research Note

Synopsis

The enormous potential for Europe’s mobile data market is driven by the region’s large population and the growing quantity and quality of content available through mobile portals and new applications stores. As gaming, video and music portals have become essential offerings for operators, increasingly competitive flat-rate plans will also continue to encourage a greater number of subscribers to use these data services.

At the same time, investments in upgrading networks with HSPA and LTE technologies will deliver mobile data services to a wider customer base, and consolidate the potential of mobile broadband as a viable alternative to fixed-line offers. Indeed, during the next two years at least, operator investment in mobile networks will only be matched by investment in the fibre sector. This is partly through operator anxiety that their networks should be able to match the logarithmic growth in consumer data use anticipated in coming years, as also through pressure from national governments which have emphatically stressed the role which mobile networks must play in order that IP-based services are made universally available to their populations.