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IDC Paints Picture Of Fierce Mobile Competition |
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Written by Adam Gosling
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Thursday, 12 July 2007 |
If nowhere else the competitive environment the Federal Government
has fostered around mobile phone networks in Australia seems to have
worked well in 2006 according to IT industry researcher IDC.
The company's latest research looking at the Australian mobile phone
business last year show it was an intensely competitive year with
mobile operators "sparing
little" as they pursued new customers.
"In
2006, the Australian mobile landscape experienced heightened
competition amidst much change and flux in regulation and strategic
shifts by the mobile carriers," said Jerson Yau, IDC
Australia, Wireless and Mobility Analyst. "In light of these developments,
expectations are for the market to experience continued
hyper-competitiveness and price warring, and an enduring emphasis on
migrationary and acquisitionary tactics."
Its
the fourth edition of IDC's annual guide to
Australia's A$9.3 billion-a-year mobile services industry and this year
it popped up some interesting information about the way market
volatility and competition and robust growth
work hand in hand as Australia's mobile subscriber base reached 20.42
million, or 98.4%
penetration of the Australian population.
Mobile service revenue almost
topped A$9.3 billion.
The
report also reveals that Telstra, with the launch of its NEXT G network
and Optus remain the first and second largest players (respectively),
but bit players like Vodafone performed strongly - underpinned by its
unwavering global brand equity in the consumer and pre-paid youth
market segments.
Meanwhile Hutchison 3's improving
financial performance is expected to flow into developing its mobile
network, which is the most limited in terms of coverage, says the researcher.
IDC points out, however, that the
Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) market experienced a setback in
2006, with both their subscribers and service revenues depleting
considerably. The absence of 3G offerings in particular had an
especially negative impact on the MVNO segment.
IDC expects
the mobile market in 2007, to be characterised by excessive competition
and price-warring. As the Australian mobile market reaches a new
crossroads in terms of technology developments (3G/3.5G) and the advent
of more innovative and exciting services, there is an escalating need
for mobile operators to adopt more proactive strategies in order to be
one step ahead of the competition. Agility and swiftness to bring to
market new and differentiated services will be hallmarks of a strong
contender.
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