2012 Austria - Telecoms, IP Networks, Digital Media and Forecasts

Last updated: 6 Feb 2013 Update History

Report Status: Archived

Report Pages: 98

Analyst: Henry Lancaster

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Publication Overview

This report provides a comprehensive overview of trends and developments in Austria’s telecommunications market. The report analyses the mobile, internet, broadband, digital TV and converging media sectors. Subjects include:

Market and industry analyses, trends and developments;
Facts, figures and statistics;
Industry and regulatory issues;
Infrastructure;
Major Players, Revenues, Subscribers, ARPU, MoU;
Internet, VoIP, IPTV;
Mobile Voice and Data Markets;
Broadband (FttH, DSL, cable TV, wireless);
Convergence and Digital Media;
3G subscriber and mobile ARPU forecasts to 2015;
Broadband market forecasts for selective years to 2020.

Key developments:

Telekom Austria expands in CEE through additional acquisitions; infrastructure investment growth; mobile sector revenue accounting for two-thirds of total telecom revenue; Xlink launches 1Gb/s FttH broadband offer; Telekom Austria targets connecting 2.3 million homes with FttH by 2013; mobile broadband subscribers approach two million mark, representing almost 60% of all broadband customers; TA’s GigaNet FttX network reaches 52% of households; UPC Austria tests 1.3Gb/s service; TA trials vectoring technology; LTE to be available to a quarter of all Austrians by end-2013; mobile TV streaming success with more than 50 channels available; 2011 Frequency Utilization Plan opening up 800MHz spectrum for 4G use; spectrum auction planned for late-2012; strong subscriber growth keeping mobile sector revenue steady; 3 Austria launches LTE; Telekom Austria forms TA Group M2M subsidiary to manage its involvement in the M2M sector; UPC signs up as an MVNO on H3’s network; mobile data traffic shows strong growth; A1 boasts 88% LTE coverage in Vienna and surrounds; retailer Spar launches as an MVNO; 3 Austria buys Orange; regulator’s market data for Q1 2012; telcos’ financial and operating data to September 2012; market developments to early 2013.

Companies covered in this report include:

Telekom Austria, UPC Austria, Xlink, Orange, 3 Austria, A1, T-Mobile, Tele2, tele.ring, eTel Austria.

Researcher:- Henry Lancaster
Current publication date:- February 2013 (11th Edition)

Executive Summary

Further consolidation in Austrian mobile sector highlights H3’s market commitment

BuddeComm’s annual publication, Austria - 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 Central Europe’s key markets. The report includes the regulator’s market data to mid-2012, telcos’ financial and operating data to September 2012 and market developments to early 2013.

Telecom market overview

Austria’s liberalised telecom market is one of the most competitive in Europe, with numerous operators providing voice and data services, The mobile market has been consolidated in recent years following a number of purchases, most recently that of Orange by H3 Austria. Most of the population uses the internet, and broadband household penetration at 57% is above the EU average, largely the result of effectively competing cable and ADSL platforms. The number of fixed lines continues to fall – about 10% of all new broadband customers opt for internet without fixed-line access. The ICT sector still employs over 100,000 people and contributes about 4.4% to the country’s GDP. Revenue from the telecoms sector has been inconsistent, with a renewed decline seen since 2010, largely due to the continuing tough economic conditions.

The mobile sector (including mobile broadband) has become the largest in terms of revenue, representing about two-thirds of the total, while fixed-line telephony has a only a fifth of the market, fixed-line broadband about 10% and leased lines the remaining 3%. The trend in declining revenue is likely to continue during the next few years as operators adjust to competition and regulatory measure. In the mobile sector some respite is expected in coming years as consumers make greater use of high-end mobile data services.

Fibre broadband market

There remains little significant fibre deployment outside Vienna, though a number of promising regulatory measures will encourage further developments in coming years. Telekom Austria aims to connect 2.3 million homes by the end of 2013, while smaller players such as Infotech Ried and Xlink now operate 1Gb/s networks in a growing number of towns such as Klagenfurt, Villach and Salzburg. The incumbent’s own ‘FiberCities’ network complements its VDSL2 coverage in rural areas using existing fibre backbone and complemented by mobile base stations connected to the fibre network to support its LTE projects.

Key telecom parameters – 2010; 2013

Sector	2010	2013
Subscribers by sector (million):
Fixed broadband subscribers	2.03	2.15
Mobile broadband	2.37	4.97
Mobile phone	12.80	13.55
Fixed-line telephony	2.69	2.79
Penetration by sector:
Fixed broadband	22%	26%
Mobile	146%	163%
Fixed-line	58%	58%

(Source: BuddeComm)

Market Highlights

The auction of remaining spectrum in the 800, 900 and 1800MHz bands in late 2012 has enabled MNOs to improve their services in rural areas, and expand the availability of LTE networks. These bands complement the existing 2.6GHz allocations which required MNOs to deploy LTE to 25% of the population by the end of 2013.
Though fibre infrastructure has been slow to gain traction in Austria, considerable improvement is expected in coming years, albeit from only a small number of players.
All MNOs have advanced plans for LTE roll-outs, with T-Mobile offering services in four cities by early 2012. Both T-Mobile and Telekom Austria are utilising existing FttX infrastructure to provide data backhaul for their LTE networks.
Despite ASO having been reached nationally, DTTV retains only a small share of the TV market. The satellite TV sector is particularly strong, with about two thirds of digital TV households subscribing to Astra. The regulator has promoted DVB-T2 as a future broadcasting format.

This report is essential reading for those needing high level strategic information and objective analysis on the telecom sector in Austria. 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.

1. Key Statistics
2. Telecommunications Market
- 2.1 Overview of Austria’s telecom market
3. Regulatory Environment
- 3.1 History
  - 3.1.1 EU regulatory framework
  - 3.1.2 Revised NFR
- 3.2 Regulatory authorities
  - 3.2.1 Austrian Regulatory Authority for Broadcasting and Telecommunications
  - 3.2.2 Telekom Control Commission
  - 3.2.3 Austrian Communications Authority (KommAustria)
- 3.3 Telecom sector liberalisation in Austria
  - 3.3.1 Privatisation of Telekom Austria
  - 3.3.2 Interconnect
  - 3.3.3 Access
- 3.4 Number portability (NP)
- 3.5 Carrier PreSelection (CPS)
4. Fixed Network Market
- 4.1 Fixed network operators in Austria
  - 4.1.1 Telekom Austria
  - 4.1.2 Tele2
  - 4.1.3 tele.ring
  - 4.1.4 UPC Austria
  - 4.1.5 eTel Austria
5. Telecommunications Infrastructure
- 5.1 National telecom network
- 5.2 Next Generation Network (NGN)
- 5.3 Structural separation
- 5.4 Wholesaling
- 5.5 International infrastructure
  - 5.5.1 Submarine cable networks
  - 5.5.2 Satellite networks
6. Broadband Market
- 6.1 Overview
- 6.2 Regulating wholesale access
- 6.3 Wholesale market
  - 6.3.1 Bitstream
  - 6.3.2 Unbundling
- 6.4 Broadband statistics
- 6.5 Government support
- 6.6 Regional broadband
- 6.7 Cable modems
  - 6.7.1 UPC Austria
- 6.8 Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
- 6.9 Fibre-to-the-Home (FttH) networks
- 6.10 Mobile broadband
- 6.11 Broadband Powerline (BPL)
- 6.12 Wireless broadband
  - 6.12.1 Wireless Local Loop (WLL)
  - 6.12.2 450MHz frequency band
  - 6.12.3 3.5GHz frequency band
  - 6.12.4 Wireless LANs/WiFi
  - 6.12.5 WiMAX
  - 6.12.6 Internet via satellite
7. Digital Media
- 7.1 Key general trends
- 7.2 Business models
  - 7.2.1 Bundled services
- 7.3 Regulatory issues
- 7.4 Digital TV
  - 7.4.1 Overview
  - 7.4.2 TV-over-DSL (IPTV)
  - 7.4.3 Cable TV
  - 7.4.4 Satellite TV
  - 7.4.5 Digital terrestrial TV
  - 7.4.6 Free-to-Air (FTA) TV
  - 7.4.7 VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services
8. Mobile Communications
- 8.1 Overview of Austria’s mobile market
  - 8.1.1 Mobile statistics
  - 8.1.2 Operator market shares
- 8.2 Regulatory issues
  - 8.2.1 Regulatory authority
  - 8.2.2 Spectrum regulations and spectrum auctions
  - 8.2.3 Roaming
  - 8.2.4 Mobile number portability (MNP)
  - 8.2.5 Mobile termination rates (MTRs)
  - 8.2.6 Network sharing
- 8.3 Mobile technologies
  - 8.3.1 Digital
  - 8.3.2 Third Generation (3G) mobile
- 8.4 Major mobile operators
  - 8.4.1 Orange
  - 8.4.2 3 Austria
  - 8.4.3 A1
  - 8.4.4 T-Mobile
  - 8.4.5 Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO)
- 8.5 Mobile voice services
  - 8.5.1 Prepaid cards
- 8.6 Mobile Messaging
  - 8.6.1 Short Message Service (SMS)
  - 8.6.2 Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)
- 8.7 Mobile data services
  - 8.7.1 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
  - 8.7.2 Push-to-Talk (PTT)
  - 8.7.3 Enhanced data for GSM Evolution (EDGE)
  - 8.7.4 High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA)
  - 8.7.5 High-Speed Circuit-Switched Data (HSCSD)
  - 8.7.6 High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA)
  - 8.7.7 Long-term Evolution (LTE)
  - 8.7.8 Mobile TV
  - 8.7.9 Femtocells
- 8.8 Mobile content and applications
  - 8.8.1 M-commerce
  - 8.8.2 Mobile VoIP
  - 8.8.3 Machine-to-Machine
9. Forecasts
- 9.1 Broadband subscribers – 2007 – 2012; 2020
  - 9.1.1 Scenario 1 – higher broadband subscriber growth
  - 9.1.2 Scenario 2 – lower broadband subscriber growth
- 9.2 Mobile market – 2006 - 2010; 2012 - 2015
  - 9.2.1 UMTS forecasts
  - 9.2.2 Mobile ARPU forecasts
- 9.3 Notes on scenario forecasts
10. Glossary of Abbreviations

Table 1 – Country statistics Austria – 2012 (e)
Table 2 – Telecom revenue and investment statistics – 2011
Table 3 – Telephone network statistics – 2012 (e)
Table 4 – Internet user statistics – 2012 (e)
Table 5 – Broadband statistics – 2012 (e)
Table 6 – Mobile statistics – 2012 (e)
Table 7 – National telecommunications authorities
Table 8 – Telecoms revenue by sector – 2003 - 2013
Table 9 – Retail telecoms revenue by sector – 2003 - 2013
Table 10 – Telecoms revenue by sector - retail, business – 2009 - 2013
Table 11 – Telecoms sector investment by type – 2007 - 2011
Table 12 – Telecom traffic by sector – 2005 - 2012
Table 13 – Market share of retail telecoms revenue by sector – 2003 - 2010
Table 14 – Telecom investment by sector – 2006 - 2011
Table 15 – Telecom investments – 2004 - 2013
Table 16 – Price index for telecom services – 2005 - 2011
Table 17 – Telekom Austria unbundled lines – 2008 - 2012
Table 18 – Ported numbers by year – 2006 - 2012
Table 19 – CPS and CbC lines – 2004 - 2012
Table 20 – Fixed-line retail revenue – 1997 - 2013
Table 21 – Telekom Austria Group financial data – 2001 - 2012
Table 22 – Telekom Austria: PSTN and ISDN access lines – 2005 - 2012
Table 23 – Telekom Austria traffic statistics in minutes – 2007 - 2011
Table 24 – Telekom Austria traffic statistics, annual change – 2009 - 2011
Table 25 – Telekom Austria financial data by sector – 2009 - 2011
Table 26 – Telekom Austria financial data – 2009 - 2011
Table 27 – Tele2 financial data by sector – 2007 - 2012
Table 28 – Tele2 subscribers – 2007 - 2012
Table 29 – UPC Austria revenue and annual change – 2005 - 2012
Table 30 – UPC Austria subscribers – 2006 - 2012
Table 31 – Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 1999 - 2013
Table 32 – Broadband penetration of households – 2006 - 2012
Table 33 – ICT development – households with computers, internet, broadband (%) – 2002 - 2012
Table 34 – ICT development – businesses with computers, internet, websites (%) – 2003 - 2012
Table 35 – Bitstream access lines by type – 2004 - 2012
Table 36 – Telekom Austria unbundled lines – 2004 - 2012
Table 37 – Internet users and penetration rate – 1995 - 2013
Table 38 – Total fixed-line broadband subscribers by access type – 2002 - 2013
Table 39 – Total fixed-line broadband penetration – 2002 - 2013
Table 40 – Broadband market share by technology – 2002 - 2013
Table 41 – Revenue from retail and wholesale broadband connections – 2005 - 2013
Table 42 – UPC Austria broadband subscribers – 2005 - 2012
Table 43 – UPC Austria revenue and annual change – 2005 - 2012
Table 44 – Telekom Austria: retail and wholesale DSL lines – 2005 - 2012
Table 45 – ADSL subscribers and annual change – 2000 - 2013
Table 46 – Telekom Austria FttX addressable households – 2010 - 2013
Table 47 – Fibre broadband subscribers – 2007 - 2013
Table 48 – Mobile broadband subscribers – 2005 - 2015
Table 49 – Mobile broadband share of broadband market – 2008 - 2012
Table 50 – A1 mobile broadband subscribers – 2009 - 2012
Table 51 – Fixed-line wireless broadband subscribers – 2006 - 2012
Table 52 – Telekom Austria bundled services subscribers – 2010 - 2011
Table 53 – Household TV reception by technology – 2007 - 2009
Table 54 – TV households by technology – 2000 - 2012
Table 55 – Digital receiver sales by technology – 2006 - 2009
Table 56 – Telekom Austria IPTV subscribers – 2007 - 2011
Table 57 – Cable and satellite TV households – 2000 - 2013
Table 58 – UPC Austria revenue and annual change – 2005 - 2012
Table 59 – UPC Austria subscribers – 2006 - 2012
Table 60 – Mobile call minutes – 2003 - 2013
Table 61 – Mobile retail market revenue (regulator data) – 2009 - 2015
Table 62 – Mobile service revenue, retail and wholesale – 2000 - 2015
Table 63 – Average subscriber use of services – 2008 - 2012
Table 64 – Price index for mobile services – 2005 - 2011
Table 65 – Mobile subscribers and penetration rate (regulator data) – 1999 - 2016
Table 66 – Mobile subscribers by operator (regulator data) – 2005 - 2012
Table 67 – Mobile SIMs in use, 2G and 3G – 2004 - 2012
Table 68 – Mobile market share by operator – 2006 - 2012
Table 69 – GSM spectrum distribution among MNOs (MHz) – 2010
Table 70 – 2.6GHz spectrum auction results – September 2010
Table 71 – European roaming charges – 2007 - 2012
Table 72 – Mobile termination charges by operator – 2008 - 2011
Table 73 – Orange Austria mobile subscribers – 2011 - 2012
Table 74 – 3 Austria subscribers – 2009 - 2012
Table 75 – 3 Austria revenue and annual change – 2008 - 2011
Table 76 – 3 Austria annualised ARPU – 2008 - 2011
Table 77 – A1 subscribers (Austria) – 2000 - 2012
Table 78 – A1 group subscriber breakdown – 2008 - 2012
Table 79 – A1 - mobile financial data – 2004 - 2012
Table 80 – A1 annualised monthly ARPU – 2004 - 2012
Table 81 – T-Mobile Austria mobile service revenue – 2003 - 2012
Table 82 – T-Mobile Austria subscribers – 2004 - 2012
Table 83 – T-Mobile Austria annualised ARPU – 2006 - 2012
Table 84 – Mobile numbers in use, contract and prepaid – 2004 - 2012
Table 85 – A1 prepaid subscribers – 2005 - 2012
Table 86 – SMS messages sent – 2004 - 2013
Table 87 – A1 SMS sent – 2006 - 2012
Table 88 – A1 data as proportion of revenue – 2004 - 2011
Table 89 – MMS messages sent – 2005 - 2013
Table 90 – Smartphone penetration – 2008 - 2013
Table 91 – Mobile data services revenue as proportion of total – 1999 - 2013
Table 92 – Mobile data traffic – 2008 - 2013
Table 93 – Forecast broadband subscribers – higher growth scenario – 2007 - 2012; 2020
Table 94 – Forecast broadband subscribers – lower growth scenario – 2007 - 2012; 2020
Table 95 – Forecast UMTS subscribers – 2006 - 2015
Table 96 – Forecast mobile ARPU – 2005 - 2010; 2012 - 2015

Chart 1 – Telecom traffic by sector – 2005 - 2012
Chart 2 – Market share of retail telecoms revenue by sector – 2003 - 2010
Chart 3 – Telecom investment by sector – 2006 - 2011
Chart 4 – Price index for telecom services – 2005 - 2011
Chart 5 – Tele2 financial data by sector – 2007 - 2012
Chart 6 – Tele2 subscribers – 2007 - 2012
Chart 7 – Internet users and penetration rate – 2003 - 2013
Chart 8 – Total fixed-line broadband subscribers by access type – 2002 - 2013
Chart 9 – Broadband market share by technology – 2002 - 2013
Chart 10 – Revenue from retail and wholesale broadband connections – 2005 - 2013
Chart 11 – Telekom Austria: retail and wholesale DSL lines – 2004 - 2012
Chart 12 – TV households by technology – 2000 - 2012
Chart 13 – Mobile service revenue, retail and wholesale – 2000 - 2015
Chart 14 – Mobile subscribers and penetration rate (regulator data) – 1999 - 2016
Chart 15 – Mobile SIMs in use, 2G and 3G – 2004 - 2012
Chart 16 – Mobile market share by operator – 2006 - 2012
Chart 17 – 3 Austria subscribers – 2009 - 2012
Chart 18 – 3 Austria annualised ARPU – 2008 - 2011
Chart 19 – A1 annualised monthly ARPU – 2004 - 2012

Exhibit 1 – EU – The New Regulatory Framework (NRF)
Exhibit 2 – Access and the local loop
Exhibit 3 – Regional WLL licenses in 3.5GHz spectrum by operator – 2004
Exhibit 4 – Regional WLL licenses in 3.5GHz spectrum by operator – 2009
Exhibit 5 – 450MHz frequency allocation overview – 2006
Exhibit 6 – 3.5GHz frequency allocation – 2008
Exhibit 7 – Overview of digital media
Exhibit 8 – Active mobile providers – 2012
Exhibit 9 – 3G licence results - 2000
Exhibit 10 – 450MHz licence results – 2006
Exhibit 11 – 2G spectrum allocations by operator
Exhibit 12 – 3G spectrum allocations by operator

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