LONDON, July 22, 2002 - A recent study into the individual European wireless markets has shown that most of them now find themselves in the same situation - subscriber growth is lower than in previous years and there is the ever present uncertainty surrounding 3G. In 2001, though a limited number of countries experienced good subscriber growth, the majority experienced lower growth as a result of saturation.
"During 2001, operators concentrated on increasing usage and refocusing on quality customers. Some operators have achieved this quite well, while others still have a largely pre-paid customer base," said Paolo Pescatore, research analyst for IDC's European Wireless and Mobile Communications Service. "For the second half of 2002 we will see a greater focus on GPRS and the introduction of new innovative services such as multimedia messaging services (MMS). It is highly likely that we will see some consolidation in the 3G market due to companies cutting their losses and selling their licenses to pan-European operators looking to enter a market to provide their users with a seamless wireless service."
Although users are content with their current GSM service - being able to make voice calls and send/receive SMS - operators have to start marketing their GPRS offerings heavily. The sooner they start marketing their offering, the quicker the market will take off. Users need to be educated on how to use packet data services which will be a key enabling technology for WAP and the take-up of MMS.
Also a key battle ground will be I-Mode versus WAP. I-Mode has finally made its entry into Europe, initially in Germany, followed by the Netherlands, and eventually Belgium and France. Its entry into Europe has been masterful and it will be interesting to see how well it is marketed, perceived, and more importantly, taken up by consumers. If the service is taken up then it will ultimately increase data revenue.
IDC's Country and Operator Profiles look into each of the Western European mobile markets, each of which are split by country overview and operators. The country overview part looks at the overall state of the market while the operator element looks at each of the operator's strategies and service offering. Finally, each bulletin also contains updated wireless forecasts.
IDC's Country and Operator Profiles are available to purchase from your local IDC office.
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For more information, contact:
Paolo Pescatore
+44 (0) 20 8997 7151
ppescatore@idc.com
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