Ireland - Mobile Infrastructure, Broadband, Operators - Statistics and Analyses

Last updated: 5 Mar 2019 Update History

Report Status: Archived

Report Pages: 67

Analyst: Henry Lancaster

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Synopsis

Ireland’s mobile market is dominated by Vodafone Ireland and 3 Ireland which have a similar market share. They are followed at some distance by the incumbent telco, eir, which has about 17% of the market by subscribers. There is room for a small number of MVNOs, the largest of which is Tesco Mobile. Although the number of dedicated mobile broadband subscribers has fallen since 2016, mobile broadband use, supported by extensive LTE networks, remains popular among consumers, particularly since the introduction of flat-rate data plans. LTE forms an integral part of the government’s national broadband strategy, with upgraded LTE technologies being used to provide the required minimum of 30Mb/s in many rural areas.

The regulator has set aside spectrum in several bands for mobile data services, including that in the 3.6GHz band which was auctioned in mid-2017.

This report provides statistics and analysis on the Irish mobile market, including the key regulatory issues, a snapshot of the consumer market, emerging technologies, and the growth of mobile data.

Key developments:

Vodafone launches a commercial NB-IoT service, makes its first 5G call;
Regulator revises strategy to manage radio spectrum;
3 Ireland invests €300 million to provide 225Mb/s '4G Plus' service nationally, extends Nokia vendor relationship with a five-year managed services contract;
Vodafone Ireland completes national LTE network upgrade project;
SMS traffic shows continuing decline;
Mobile broadband subscriber base falls;
Report update includes the regulator's market data to Q3 2018, telcos' operating and financial data to Q4 2018, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Vodafone Ireland, O2, eir, eMobile; Tesco Mobile, Virgin Media Ireland.

Market analysis
Mobile statistics

General statistics

Mobile infrastructure

Analogue networks
Digital networks

5G
4G (LTE)
3G
GSM
Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA)

Mobile voice
Mobile data

Short Message Service (SMS)
Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)

Mobile broadband
Forecasts – mobile subscribers – 2019; 2021; 2023

Regulatory issues

Spectrum regulations and spectrum auctions

3G spectrum
Digital dividend spectrum
26GHz licences
2.6GHz band
2.3GHz band
3.6GHz
70-80GHz band

Roaming

Data roaming

Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
Mobile termination rates (MTRs)
Wideband Digital Mobile Data Services (WDMDS)
Network sharing
Machine-to-Machine (M2M) networks
Internet of Things

Major mobile operators

Vodafone Ireland
O2 Ireland (historic)
Eir
3 Ireland
MVNOs

Mobile content and applications
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Operator blended ARPU – 2005 – 2018
Table 2 – Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 1995; 1997; 1999 – 2009
Table 3 – Mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 2010 – 2019
Table 4 – Mobile voice subscribers (not incl. mobile broadband, M2M) – 2011 – 2018
Table 5 – Mobile retail market revenue, voice and data – 2005 – 2018
Table 6 – Mobile share of subscribers by operator – 2005 – 2018
Table 7 – Operator share of subscribers (excl. M2M and broadband) – 2014 – 2018
Table 8 – Mobile share of revenue by operator – 2005 – 2018
Table 9 – Prepaid versus postpaid share of subscribers – 2000 – 2018
Table 10 – Proportion of prepaid subscribers by operator – 2008 – 2018
Table 11 – 3G SIM cards in use by type – 2011 – 2018
Table 12 – Mobile subscriber market share by technology – 2013 – 2018
Table 13 – Mobile voice traffic – 2005 – 2018
Table 14 – Mobile data traffic – 2014 – 2018
Table 15 – Mobile data traffic share by technology – 2014 – 2018
Table 16 – Data use per subscriber – 2011 – 2018
Table 17 – SMS messages sent – 2000 - 2019
Table 18 – SMS and MMS messages sent per subscriber – 2011 – 2018
Table 19 – SMS and MMS revenue – 2012 – 2015
Table 20 – MMS messages sent – 2005 – 2018
Table 21 – Dedicated mobile broadband subscribers – 2007 – 2018
Table 22 – Mobile broadband market share by operator – 2010 – 2018
Table 23 – Active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2009 – 2018
Table 24 – Forecasts – mobile subscribers – 2019; 2021; 2023
Table 25 – European roaming charges – 2007 - 2016
Table 26 – European data roaming charges – 2014 – 2017
Table 27 – Annual mobile numbers ported – 2005 – 2018
Table 28 – M2M connections – 2013 – 2018
Table 29 – Market share of M2M connections by operator – 2016 – 2018
Table 30 – Vodafone Ireland mobile subscribers – 2006 – 2018
Table 31 – Vodafone Ireland mobile service revenue – 2010 – 2018
Table 32 – O2 mobile financial data (historic) – 2007 – 2014
Table 33 – O2 mobile data statistics (historic) – 2007 – 2013
Table 34 – O2 ARPU, blended, prepaid and contract (historic) – 2006 – 2013
Table 35 – O2 subscribers (historic) – 2006 – 2014
Table 36 – Eir mobile subscribers – 2006 – 2018
Table 37 – Eir mobile services revenue – 2006 - 2010; 2012- 2018
Table 38 – Eir mobile annualised blended ARPU - 2006 – 2014
Table 39 – Eir mobile prepaid and contract ARPU - 2013 – 2018
Table 40 – 3 Ireland registered subscribers – 2006 – 2018
Table 41 – 3 Ireland active subscribers – 2013 – 2018
Table 42 – 3 Ireland financial data – 2007 – 2018
Table 43 – 3 Ireland revenue by sector – 2013 – 2018
Table 44 – 3 Ireland annualised ARPU – 2013 – 2018

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 2005 - 2019
Chart 2 – Mobile market revenue, voice and data – 2005 – 2018
Chart 3 – Mobile share of subscribers by operator – 2006 – 2018
Chart 4 – Mobile share of revenue by operator – 2006 – 2018
Chart 5 – Proportion of prepaid subscribers by operator – 2008 – 2018
Chart 6 – Mobile subscriber market share by technology – 2013 – 2018
Chart 7 – Mobile broadband market share by operator – 2010 – 2018
Chart 8 – 3 Ireland financial data – 2007 – 2018
Chart 9 – 3 Ireland annualised ARPU – 2013 – 2018

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1 – 3G licence results – June 2002
Exhibit 2 – Multiband frequency award process – 2012
Exhibit 3 – WDMDS licences: operators, spectrum and fees – 2005
Exhibit 4 – 3 Ireland spectrum concessions
Exhibit 5 – Virgin Media mobile subscribers –2015 - 2018

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Ireland - Mobile Infrastructure, Broadband, Operators - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

Synopsis

Key developments:

Companies mentioned in this report:

Market analysis

Mobile statistics

Mobile infrastructure

Regulatory issues

Major mobile operators

Mobile content and applications

Related reports

Purchase this Report

Share this Report

TMT Intelligence

A platform to scale your intelligence tasks

Research Methodology

Hot Topics

News & Views