Austria Communication Profile 2012

Austria’s telecom market has been progressively liberalised since the early 1990s, the incumbent Telekom Austria has remained the dominant player in amount sectors despite Austria having of the majority competitive markets Europe. In the mobile sector, amount network operators are international players, with the incumbent’s A1 having a particularly strong presence in Central and Eastern Europe. A significant developed in early 2012 was the acquisition of Orange Austria by the fourth-placed operator 3 Austria. This consolidation asserted 3 Austria’s commitment to the market but as well reflected the fiercely competitive environment which since 2006 has seen the number of MNOs fall from to three.

Revenue from the telecoms sector has declined steadily since 2006. The mobile sector (including mobile broadband) has become the major in terms of revenue, representing 65.3% of the total, while fixed-line telephony has a 22.3% share and fixed-line broadband a 9.5% share. The trend in declining revenue is likely to continue during the next few years as operators adjust to competition and regulatory measure. In the mobile sector some respite is expected after 2013 as consumers make better use of high-end mobile data services. The regulator reported that in the second quarter of 2011 total telecom sector revenue was about €1.14 billion (unchanged from the previous quarter). Revenue from the mobile sector increased 1.2% quarter-on-quarter, to some €750 million or about-thirds of total revenue. Revenue from voice telephony fell 2.8% while that for broadband fell 1.7%.

/sites/default/files/Austria Communication globserver 3.jpgInfrastructure investment increased substantially in 2010, to €635 million compared to €503 million in 2009. Of the total investment of €693 million, some 7.2% went to spectrum auctions to provide for LTE and next-generation mobile services. Further investment in both spectrum and infrastructure is expected during the next to three years following the imminent auction of available spectrum in several bands.

Digital switchover in Austria was completed in mid-2011 sequentially by region. Only 5% of TV subscribers make use of the service, while the remainder rely on cable and satellite reception. During the switch-off phase additional space was made available for a further multiplexes, some of which will be based on the new DVB-T2 technology which can provide for additional channels. Multiplex D has been reserved for mobile broadcasting.

Key telecom parameters – 2010; 2012

(Source: BuddeComm)

Market Highlights

• The regulator’s auction of remaining spectrum in the 800, 900 and 1800MHz bands in late 2012 will enable MNOs to improve their services in rural areas, and expand the availability of LTE networks. The auction follows that in late-2010 for 2.6GHz frequencies which required MNOs to deploy LTE to 25% of the population by the end of 2013. These developments will dramatically improve broadband connectivity in coming years.
• Fibre infrastructure has been slow to gain traction in Austria, though considerable improvement is expected in coming years, albeit from only a small number of players. Telekom Austria has expanded its FttH infrastructure in Vienna, and by early 2011 around 52% of households were passed by its GigaNet infrastructure. The company has a target to connect 2.3 million homes by 2013.
• All MNOs have advanced plans for LTE roll-outs, with T-Mobile offering services in four cities by early 2012. Both T-Mobile and Telekom Austria are utilising existing FttX infrastructure to provide data backhaul for their LTE networks.
• Despite ASO having been completed in mid-2011, DTTV has only a small share of the TV market. The satellite TV sector is particularly strong in Austria, with the Astra system the market leader: about two thirds of digital TV households are Astra subscribers. Among DTH households, digital satellite has an 89% market share, compared to 39% for digital cable networks. The market has sufficient room to expand, with Austriasat introduced as a new competitor in late 2010.
   

Broadband Market

The Austrian broadband market is dominated by the DSL sector, which rapidly overtook cable as the preferred access method. UPC Austria is the leading cable operator, while Telekom Austria, half through its early reluctance to co-operate with local loop unbundling, retains a leading share of the DSL market. This statement provides data and analysis on the broadband market and public data services in Austria in 2010, including technologies such as xDSL, leased lines, cable modems, FttH, powerline broadband, WiFi and Internet via satellite.

Convergence - Triple Play & Digital TV

Austria though there has been better competitive pressure in the fixed-line and mobile sectors in recent years, while regulatory measure to encourage local loop unbundling have improved competition in the broadband market.