2017 Austria - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Digital Media - Statistics and Analyses

Telekom Austria invests in XG-Fast technologies to support its NGN

Austria’s telecom market is dominated by the incumbent Telekom Austria and the cableco UPC Austria, though in recent years there has been greater competitive pressure in the fixed-line broadband and mobile sectors.

The fixed-line broadband market is dominated by the DSL sector, which retained a 64% market share of subscribers at the beginning of 2017. The cable broadband sector has held a steady share of about 34%. Although there are a number of smaller operators the cable sector is dominated by UPC Austria. Telekom Austria has invested in G.fast technologies to supplement high-bandwidth connectivity in areas where it has not prioritised fibre. Fibre penetration remains low, with the platform having less than 2% market share of subscribers, but there is vigour among operators to build out network infrastructure. Ongoing investment in the sector suggests stronger growth in coming years, and as a result the number of DSL lines is expected to fall as customers are migrated to fibre.

The regulator in February 2017 proposed a framework by which broadband services could be expanded across the country, partly through encouraging the use of DSL vectoring technology.

Austria’s competitive mobile market is dominated by the three operators 3 Austria, T-Mobile Austria and Telekom Austria’s own unit A1. However, the markets also benefits from a growing number of new entrants in the MVNO sector, which by early 2017 collectively had a 5% share of the market by subscribers. Part of the growth in the MVNO sector is due to regulatory concessions by which 3 Austria, as part of its take-over of Orange Austria, was obliged to provide a third of its network capacity to support up to 16 MVNOs.

The competitive environment has led to relatively low ARPU for operators, as well as some of the region’s lowest tariffs for consumers. The operators’ LTE networks have benefited from regulatory measures which have allowed operators to refarm existing 2G and 3G spectrum for LTE, while spectrum in the 700MHz has also been set aside for mobile broadband use once this band is released from broadcasters.

This report presents key aspects of the Austrian telecom and ICT markets, including statistical data on the fixed network services sector and telecom infrastructure. It presents an overview of recent regulatory developments, including those related to broadband access. The major fixed network operators are also profiled, together with the most recent performance data and an analysis on market strategies. The report also covers fixed-line and mobile broadband developments as well as the mobile market in general, including recent developments in technologies deployed and the strategies of operators as they focus on mobile data services.

Key developments:

• Telekom Austria sets up A1 Digital International subsidiary focussed on digital businesses and technologies;
• Mobile sector revenue accounting for two-thirds of total telecom revenue;
• Telekom Austria launches 100Gb/s network across the CEE region, switches domestic fixed-line traffic to VoIP;
• Telekom Austria trials XG-Fast technology providing data at over 11Gb/s;
• T-Mobile Austria and Huawei sign five-year deal to improve wireless home broadband services;
• Regulator proposes framework to expand broadband services nationally;
• Government pledges €1 billion to upgrade national broadband availability;
• Xlink launches 1Gb/s FttP broadband offer;
• UPC Austria tests 1.3Gb/s service;
• TA trials vectoring technology;
• Public broadcaster ORF to transition to DVB-T2 standard by February 2019;
• T-Mobile Austria expands Narrowband IoT capabilities;
• ZTE signs an MoU with 3 Austria to trial pre-5G technologies; MVNOs secure 5% market share of subscribers;
• A1 and Nokia trial tri-carrier technology providing data at up to 513Mb/s;
• LTE available to about 98% of the population;
• Report update includes the regulator’s market data to December 2016, operators’ data updates to Q1 2017, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Telekom Austria (A1), Tele2 Austria, tele.ring, UPC Austria, Xlink, Orange Austria, T-Mobile Austria, ORF, 3 Austria, , T-Mobile Austria, Orange Austria, Mundio, Lycamobile, Yesss!, M:Tel Austria, Hofer Telekom.