United Kingdom - Mobile Data Market Insights - 3G, 4G and Forecasts

Synopsis

The UK’s 3G and mobile data market is one of the largest in Europe. Competition among network operators has induced them to provide similar pricing and usage models, commonly including between 3GB and 10GB per month. This has substantially increased consumer use of mobile data. Low-key data applications such as SMS dominate the market while mobile TV, though widely available, has thus far failed to capture public attention. This report surveys the UK’s mobile data market in 2011, providing an overview of 3G developments, regulatory issues and technologies. It also profiles the major operators, presents statistics on non-voice services, and analyses developments in mobile TV and mobile application stores.

Key developments:

Ofcom claims 4G spectrum efficiency gains of up to 200% on 3G; 800MHz and 2.6GHz auction delayed until 2012; Big Three m-commerce initiative; UK Broadband LTE developments in 3.5GHz band; smartphone penetration reaches 50%, sector accounts for two-thirds of all mobile unit sales; Everything Everywhere and BT Wholesale trial LTE in the 800MHz band; 3UK reports 97% of all network traffic is data; Everything Everywhere launched M2M platform; MBNL signs £100 million network deal with Virgin Media Business to augment mobile broadband capacity; NFC launches show great promise for mobile payments; potential LTE interference with DTTV in 800MHz band; regulator’s 2010 market data and Q1 2011 update; operator data to September 2011.

Companies covered in this report include:

H3, O2, Vodafone, Everything Everywhere, Virgin Mobile, UK Broadband.

Table of Contents

• 1. Synopsis
• 2. Overview
• 3. Spectrum
  • 3.1 Spectrum 2.6GHz
  • 3.2 Spectrum 600MHz
  • 3.3 Spectrum 800MHz and 2.6GHz
  • 3.4 Spectrum 900MHz and 1800MHz
  • 3.5 Other spectrum
  • 3.6 Third Generation (3G)
    • 3.6.1 Licensing
    • 3.6.2 Network sharing
  • 3.7 Fourth Generation (4G)
• 4. Operator services – 3G
  • 4.1 Hutchison 3
  • 4.2 O2
  • 4.3 Vodafone
  • 4.4 Everything Everywhere
• 5. Mobile Messaging
  • 5.1 Short Message Service (SMS)
  • 5.2 Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)
• 6. Mobile data services
  • 6.1 Consumer use of multimedia services
    • 6.1.1 Mobile applications
    • 6.1.2 M-commerce collaboration
    • 6.1.3 Application stores
  • 6.2 High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA)
  • 6.3 Long-term evolution (LTE)
    • 6.3.1 Regulatory issues
  • 6.4 Mobile TV
    • 6.4.1 Spectrum issues
    • 6.4.2 Machine-to-Machine (M2M)
• 7. Forecasts – UMTS – 2007 - 2010; 2015
• 8. Related reports

• Table 1 – 3G subscribers and percentage of total subscribers – 2003 - 2012
• Table 2 – 3G licence results – April 2000
• Table 3 – 3G subscribers by operator – 2005 - 2010
• Table 4 – 3 UK subscribers by sector – 2008 - 2011
• Table 5 – 3 UK revenue by sector – 2008 - 2010
• Table 6 – 3 UK annualised ARPU by sector – 2009 - 2011
• Table 7 – 3 UK data as proportion total revenue – 2009 – 2010
• Table 8 – O2 financial data –2007 - 2011
• Table 9 – O2 subscribers, prepaid and contract – 2005 - 2011
• Table 10 – Vodafone (UK) subscribers and proportion prepaid – 2001 - 2011
• Table 11 – Vodafone (UK) financial data – 2008 - 2011
• Table 12 – Everything Everywhere quarterly financial data – 2009 - 2011
• Table 13 – Everything Everywhere ARPU – 2009 – 2011
• Table 14 – Everything Everywhere subscriber data – 2009 - 2011
• Table 15 – SMS messages sent – 2004- 2012
• Table 16 – Average SMS and MMS sent per month – 2003 - 2009
• Table 17 – SMS and MMS revenue by operator – 2006 - 2010
• Table 18 – SMS and MMS volumes by operator – 2006 - 2010
• Table 19 – MMS messages sent – 2006 – 2012
• Table 20 – Mobile data traffic and revenue increase– 2007 - 2010
• Table 21 – Mobile data revenue by service – 2005 - 2010
• Table 22 – UK mobile advertising spend by type– 2009 - 2010
• Table 23 – Mobile Internet traffic by operating system – 2010
• Table 24 – Smartphone sales and penetration – 2007 - 2012
• Table 25 – Forecast UMTS subscribers – 2007 - 2012; 2015

• Chart 1 – 3G subscribers and penetration rate – 2003 - 2012
• Chart 2 – 3 UK subscribers by sector – 2008 – 2011
• Chart 3 – 3 UK revenue by sector – 2008 - 2010
• Chart 4 – 3 UK ARPU by sector – 2009 – 2011
• Chart 5 – O2 financial data –2007 - 2011
• Chart 6 – O2 subscribers, prepaid and contract – 2005 – 2011
• Chart 7 – Vodafone (UK) subscribers and proportion prepaid – 2001 - 2011
• Chart 8 – Vodafone (UK) financial data – 2008 – 2011
• Chart 9 – Everything Everywhere quarterly financial data – 2009 – 2011
• Chart 10 – Everything Everywhere ARPU – 2009 - 2011
• Chart 11 – Everything Everywhere subscriber data – 2009 - 2011
• Chart 12 – SMS and MMS revenue by operator – 2006 - 2010
• Chart 13 – SMS and MMS volumes by operator – 2006 – 2010
• Chart 14 – Smartphone use and penetration – 2007 - 2012

• Exhibit 1 – Spectrum available for mobile services
• Exhibit 2 – 3G licensee and infrastructure suppliers