Last updated: 27 Feb 2012 Update History
Report Status: Archived
Report Pages: 105
Analyst: Henry Lancaster
Publication Overview
This report provides a comprehensive overview of trends and developments in Ireland’s telecommunications market. The report analyses the mobile, Internet, broadband, digital TV and converging media sectors. Subjects include:
Key developments:
Next Generational Broadband Taskforce set up for broadband roadmap; government pursues ‘NewEra’ National Recovery Programme; Ka-band spotbeam technology available to Digiweb Tooway, eircom and SBI satellite; dramatic fall in number of WiFi hotspots and access points; Tesco Mobile profit turnaround; regulator preparing 130MHz of sub-1GHz spectrum for mobile broadband; Meteor and O2 sign Ireland’s first network sharing deal; O2 launches MVNO; SMS traffic showed recovering growth in 2011; mobile broadband subscriptions growing nearly 10% annually; Vodafone set to increase investment by 20% in 2012; Vodafone fined for roaming data cap breaches; mobile retail revenue falls 1.2% in Q3 2011; mobile ARPU continues to slide; RTÉ initiates Saorview DTT service; coverage to be supplemented by satellite TV Saorsat; Magnet Networks launches free web TV; government’s NewEra broadband plans to support connectivity; eircom planning IPTV service in mid-2012; Eircom’s Next Generation Ethernet wholesale service opened in 600 locations; revised NRF comes into play; 14 operators use the service; government promotes NewEra National Recovery Programme requiring 90% FttC connectivity; eircom reports falling revenue in 2011; eircom puts itself up for sale to help manage €3.75 debt pile; regulator and operator data to September 2011; market developments to early 2012.
Companies covered in this report include:
Eircom, BT Ireland, Smart Telecom, Tele2, UPC Ireland, Casey Cablevision, Digiweb, Magnet Networks, Vodafone Ireland, O2, Meteor, Eircom Mobile; Tesco Mobile.
Researcher:- Henry Lancaster
Current publication date:- February 2012 ( 11th Edition)
Executive Summary
BuddeComm’s annual publication, Ireland - Telecoms, IP Networks, Digital Media and Forecasts, provides a comprehensive overview of the trends and developments in the telecommunications and digital media markets in Ireland.
The poor economic climate has deeply affected the Irish telecom market since the second half of 2008. The government in 2009 underwrote some €50 billion worth of toxic debt accumulated by the three major banks. Mounting debts, compounded by low corporate tax and reduced income tax, obliged the government to accept up to €90 billion as a bailout from the EU and IMF in late 2010, while a four-year economic plan was devised aimed at driving down the country’s deficit from 12% to 3% of GDP by the end of 2015 by cutting €15 billion off state spending. Ireland’s last three budgets have already cut public spending by up to €14 billion. In early 2011 a new coalition government was formed between Fine Gael and Labour to help push through a revised economic programme.
The government’s indebtedness has made it difficult to honour its former pledges of public money to upgrade national telecoms networks, and so it has had to lean increasingly on the cash-strapped private sector. The telecom sector has also been affected by reduced consumer spend on all but essential services. While mobile and broadband services are considered a ‘safe’ revenue stream for operators, there is little extravagance among consumers, and so operators have faced reduced revenue and with it the cash to invest in networks, infrastructure and upgrades.
Over the past six years or so changes in telecom sector revenue have mirrored economic output, and as the current recession has deepened both GDP and telecom revenue have declined. Nevertheless, the contribution of the telecom sector to GDP has grown during the last three years, suggesting that the sector is moderately healthier than other sectors of the economy.
Ireland’s mobile penetration is on a par with the EU average, having grown at one of the fastest rates in the EU in recent years. The country also has an above average level of data revenue as a percentage of total mobile revenue Although blended ARPU has continued to fall steadily, it remains among the highest in the EU. Despite economic constraints ARPU should remain stable towards the end of 2012 as increased mobile data traffic outweighs a shift to prepaid usage among consumers.
Growth in the number of broadband subscriptions has slowed in recent quarters and is largely propped up by the mobile broadband sector. DSL remains the dominant platform, though a gradual shift to FttX networks will see this dominance decline in coming years. The cable sector has been supported by UPC’s investment in DOCSIS 3.0 technology, which provides considerably higher data rates than is currently possible through DSL.
Eircom’s dominance in the broadband market is gradually slipping, representing about 65% of subscriptions by the beginning of 2012. Greater efforts by the government and regulator have led to higher broadband penetration in Ireland, though the country still ranks near the bottom of OECD countries. In the EU it is ranked above only Greece. The slow process of LLU is a major reason for Ireland’s poor position: competitors via LLU provide only about 9% of all DSL accesses.
Key telecom parameters – 2010; 2012
Sector |
2010 |
2012 (e) |
Subscribers to telecoms services: |
||
Fixed broadband subscribers (million) |
1.59 |
1.75 |
Fixed-line telephony (million) |
1.86 |
1.75 |
Mobile broadband subscribers (thousand) |
570 |
790 |
Mobile phone (million) |
5.27 |
5.62 |
Penetration by telecom service: |
||
Fixed broadband |
35% |
39% |
Fixed-line telephony |
49% |
45% |
Mobile SIM penetration |
118% |
127% |
(Source: BuddeComm)
Market Highlights
This report is essential reading for those needing high level strategic information and objective analysis on the telecom sector in Ireland. It provides further information on:
Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and may not be for the current year.
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