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Australia Telecommunications Report Q4 2009Product Type: Market Research ReportPublished by: Business Monitor International Published: September 2009 Product Code: R302-8219 Description BMI’s latest update on Australia’s telecommunications market assesses the growth and development ofthe sector in the first six months of 2009. The update incorporates the latest financial and operational datapublished by the country’s leading telecoms operators. In addition to containing revised forecasts -covering the development of the country’s fixed-line, internet and mobile subscriber markets over thenext five years - our update includes a new forecast for Australian mobile ARPU levels. BMI suspectsthat, after peaking in 2007 and 2008, the blended ARPU levels of Australia’s mobile operators haveembarked on a period of long-term decline. Current trends suggest that market leader Telstra isexperiencing a shaper contraction in its blended mobile ARPU than the other operators. This partlyreflects the emphasis which Telstra has been placing on the acquisition of lower-spending prepaid users.One of the most significant developments to occur in the past few months was the creation, in June 2009,of a new mobile operator, Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA). VHA was created as a result of theacquisition of Vodafone Australia by Hutchison 3G Australia (H3GA), the operating subsidiary ofHutchison Telecommunications Australia (HTA). The newly formed VHA will be 50%-owned by theUK-based Vodafone Group and 50% by HTA. As a result of the merger of Vodafone and Hutchison’s Australian mobile operations, VHA has emergedas the country’s third-largest mobile operator, with a market share of over 31%. This makes VHA almostas large as second-ranked Optus (backed by Singapore’s SingTel). At the time of the merger in June, itwas suggested that VHA would continue to market products and services under the Vodafone and 3brands. However, recent media reports, quoting Vodafone sources, have indicated that the 3 brand mayultimately be dropped in favour of the Vodafone banner. In addition to mobile market consolidation, recent months have seen a number of regulatorydevelopments in the Australian telecoms sector, especially those related to the development of theNational Broadband Network (NBN). In its June 2009 submission to the government’s review of thetelecoms market, the Australian regulator, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission(ACCC), said it viewed the structural separation of incumbent Telstra essential to the development of theNBN. Telstra is understood to be opposed to the need for any such separation. Instead, Telstra has arguedthat, as the NBN will operate on a wholesale-only basis, it would deliver an adequate level of structuralseparation. Additionally, Telstra’s submission to the review called for the creation of a new, independenttechnical body, which it claims could tackle the concerns of other operators with regard to access toTelstra’s infrastructure. Table of Contents
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