During the next four years, one of the principal revenue drivers in Europe’s information and communications technology (ICT) industry will be value-added wireless services and their related infrastructure, according to the TIA 2008 Telecommunications Market Review and Forecast just published. The 400-page report notes that mobile television and mobile Internet access will become important revenue streams and that voice over Internet protocol calling is expanding as the broadband universe surges.

The annual report, which TIA has published as a service to the industry for more than two decades, covers the landline, wireless, equipment and international ICT markets in thorough detail, including 450 figures and tables. Hundreds of companies use the book annually to help focus their marketing strategies, target their R&D and fine tune their strategic plans. Order your copy immediately in either print format or CD-ROM for use throughout your organization.

Looking at the expanding role of broadband relative to wireless growth in Europe, the report also notes that between 2003 and 2007 the wireless universe added 337 million subscribers, nearly four times the 86 million broadband subscribers that were added. During the next four years, wireless growth will drop to only 35 million, while there will be virtually no drop-off in broadband subscriber growth, with an estimated 85 million new subscribers expected by 2011.

Other important facts include:

• In Western Europe, wireless penetration was 108 percent in 2007, while Eastern Europe was 97 percent; both regions vastly outstripping the rest of the world.
  
  
• With carriers seeking new revenue streams by providing advanced services, enhanced spectrum is required but is in short supply. Therefore, a number of countries have mandated that television broadcasters discontinue analog broadcasting and shift to digital to make more efficient use of existing spectrum while freeing UHF spectrum for wireless carriers. The Netherlands switched to digital in 2006, Finland and Sweden dropped analog television in 2007, and Switzerland plans to drop analog in 2008, with more countries to follow.
  
  
• Italy has had early success with mobile television and attracted 500,000 subscribers in a short time. Finland launched commercial services in mid-2007, and France and Spain launched late last year. Trials are under way in a number of countries, including Austria, Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the Czech Republic.
  
  
• The trend toward bundled services by both landline telephone providers and cable system operators is propelling the broadband market. The European Commission reports that 20 percent of consumers subscribed to a bundled service in 2007.
  
  
• Even though 71 percent of Internet connections are now broadband in Europe, the broadband subscriber base continues to grow rapidly. Western Europe will continue to add more than 10 million new subscribers annually during the next four years, while growth in Central and Eastern Europe is accelerating steadily as it catches up.
  
  
• In Europe as a whole, the broadband universe passed 100 million in 2007, and TIA expects it to increase to 188.6 million in 2011.
  

To order your copy of TIA’s new report click here. Or you can e-mail marketreview@tiaonline.org or call +1.703.907.7074 for details. Don’t forget to ask about significant discounts for TIA members.

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