The big telecom winner in 2008 was Telstra, according to one market report, while Optus performed the worst out of the big four mobile operators.
According to the latest mobile market report from telecoms analyst BuddeComm, a good deal of Telstra’s market dominance stemmed from its successful Next G network.
“Telstra’s Next G network is certainly one of the global mobile success stories,” the report read.
“The market has also allowed Telstra to charge a premium price for its service.”
The strength of Next G allowed the telco to dominate rival Optus, which relies on the mobile market for the majority of its revenue. Thanks to Next G, Telstra is “seriously undermining” Optus, according to the BuddeComm report.
Vodafone’s position remained in 2008 what it has been for 15 years. Although it has been unable to truly compete on a level with Telstra and Optus, the company has “proven to be a leader in innovative new products and pricing packages”.
Looking forward, carrier revenues will continue to rise over the next few years in spite of declining mobile voice call charges, thanks to the burgeoning mobile data market.
The BuddeComm report predicts that carrier ARPUs (average revenue per user) will rise slightly in 2009 and 2010, as mobile data and 3G revenues will just manage to outweigh declining voice ARPUs, which are feeling heat from falling mobile call charges.
But although mobile voice revenues are falling, they still make up 90% of carriers’ revenue. This will not change greatly within the next few years, with end-to-end IP-based mobile wireless infrastructure not expected to be in place until somewhere between 2012 and 2015.
“The changeover, especially over the next few years, will remain rather slow, with an initial change starting perhaps later in 2009 when Optus has its nationwide 3G HSDPA network in place,” the report read.
