Europe’s mobile data pricing squeeze
The potential for Europe’s mobile data market is driven by the region’s large population and the growing quantity and quality of content available through mobile portals and new applications stores. At the same time, investments in upgrading networks with HSPA and LTE technologies will deliver mobile data services to a wider customer base, and consolidate the potential of mobile broadband as a viable alternative to fixed-line offers. Indeed, during the next two years at least, operator investment in mobile networks will only be matched by investment in the fibre sector. This is partly through operator anxiety that their networks should be able to match the logarithmic growth in consumer data use anticipated in coming years, as also through pressure from national governments which have emphatically stressed the role which mobile networks must play in order that IP-based services are made universally available to their populations.
It is evident that most mobile applications are dead-end, considered frivolous by the majority of consumers and often deleted from handsets with a day or so of having been downloaded. However, they survive and multiply because for the most part they are available for free. This is largely the consequence of Apple’s iPhone, which by enabling third party developers access to the Apple App Store, disrupted the applications market almost overnight.
There are competitive pressures among players which tend to drive down mobile data prices, though the temptation to do this is becoming less attractive given that regulatory measures on both the European and national levels are reducing revenue from MTRs and roaming. The swathe of regulations since about 2007 has been designed to fast-track the competitor-driven trend for lower prices and so more rapidly stimulate the market, particularly for international data.
In favour of mobile data are developments in the hardware market: the cost of smartphones and other 3G handsets, 3G-enabled laptops and dongles that enable laptops to connect to mobile broadband networks is falling steadily. In some European markets, mobile broadband services are now priced lower than comparable fixed-line broadband services.
For more information on developments in Europe’s mobile market, see:
- Europe – Mobile Market – 3G;
- Europe – Mobile Market – Mobile Data;
- Europe – Mobile Market – Overview & Statistics.
- Europe – Mobile Data – Competition squeezing prices
Tagged in: Europe, Mobile Data
