5G, Analysis, data monetisation, fixed data usage, FWA, mobile data usage, South Korea

High data usage countries do better on ARPU development than low-usage countries

Tefficient’s 36th public analysis of the development and drivers of mobile data compares the trends of 45 countries globally.

In our previous analyses, we saw that the pandemic led to an increase in the mobile data usage. The demand for more mobile data has since slowed. Czechia experienced the fastest growth in mobile data usage in 2022: 56%. On the other end of the spectrum, Iceland witnessed a decrease in usage. Austria, China, Malaysia and Norway had some increase, but it was below 9%.

Continue reading High data usage countries do better on ARPU development than low-usage countries →
5G, Analysis, Cloud gaming, data monetisation, Go-to-market, References, Value added services

Interviewing operators on sentiments towards current and future mobile data monetisation and service bundling

Reference: Analysis, 2023

Tefficient conducted a series of one-to-one interviews with operator executives from various global markets to gain insights into their perspectives on mobile data monetisation and service bundling models, with a focus on current and future trends.

The interviews delved into topics such as the sufficiency of current bucket and unlimited tiered mobile data propositions, the pricing of 5G, the success of speed tiering, and how content bundling can help operators. Experiences from hard bundling, soft bundling (with choice), add-on sales and content aggregation were discussed. Additionally, the interviews explored how operators can design their propositions in a QoE and slicing future where tiering is not limited to volume, speed, and content.

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Analysis, Cyber security, Go-to-market, References, Value added services

Making sense of operators’ cyber security offerings in 14 countries

Reference: Analysis, 2023

With the growing reliance on internet connectivity, telecom operators have an important role to play in protecting their customers from cyber threats such as fraud and malware. However, as internet usage can also expose users to risks such as the spread of malicious content, identity hijacking, and online slander, it is crucial for telecom operators to provide comprehensive cyber security services and solutions.

The service portfolio and the methods for offering these services can vary greatly between operators. Some are better than others in packaging and upselling cyber security.

Example from AT&T

To gain a comprehensive understanding of the cyber security offerings in 14 different markets, Tefficient conducted a thorough analysis of all of the cyber security offerings from all telecom operators in those markets. The analysis categorised the offerings according to:

Continue reading Making sense of operators’ cyber security offerings in 14 countries →
5G, Analysis, data monetisation, fixed data usage, FWA, mobile data usage, South Korea

Further slowdown in data usage growth causes positive ARPU development to soften

Tefficient’s 35th public analysis of the development and drivers of mobile data compares the trends of 46 countries from around the world. In our previous reports, we observed that the pandemic drove an increase in mobile data usage. However, during the second half of 2021 and into 2022, the demand for more mobile data slowed.

Greece experienced the fastest growth in mobile data usage, with a 45% increase. On the other end of the spectrum, Qatar, Peru, Malaysia, and Austria saw unusually slow growth rates of just 1-3%.

Continue reading Further slowdown in data usage growth causes positive ARPU development to soften →
Benchmarks, Denmark, Finland, Nordic, Norway, References, Sweden

Nordic operator benchmark 2022

Reference: Benchmarks, 2022

For the ninth year: Comprehensive business benchmark with 895 KPIs covering revenue, OPEX, CAPEX, headcount productivity, subscriptions & channels, performance, load, quality and innovation & growth – for 53 functions of mobile, fixed and integrated operators.

Peer group data exclusively from Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian and Danish operators. Due to pre-agreed confidentiality requirements, participating operators are anonymous (and of course their data).

The results demonstrate the value of a region-specific benchmark approach: Nordic operators have global leadership in a wide array of business aspects and a global benchmark would therefore leave them without guidance on how to improve further. In contrast, participating operators now have a great tool to improve their local competitiveness even further.

As every year, the Nordic operator benchmark will be enhanced further based on input from participants. It will run again in January 2023. Read more about the benchmark here.

Analysis, Belgium, CAPEX, Denmark, Finland, France, FTTx, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, OPEX, References, Sweden, UK

Benchmarking fibre pricing in Denmark with eight other European countries

Reference: Analysis, 2022

Fiberalliancen is a trade association for companies that own, operate and use fibre networks in Denmark. It is a part of Green Power Denmark.

For the second time (the first analysis was done in 2021), Tefficient has performed a comprehensive fibre broadband pricing benchmark covering nine European markets: Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland (new since 2021), Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK and France.

As part of a press release, Fiberalliancen makes Tefficient’s analysis publicly available. Download it from the right ‘Links’ column. It’s in English.

The release concludes that:

  • Denmark has some of the lowest consumer prices for both new and existing fibre connections. Only French consumers generally get a better deal than Danish consumers.
  • Danish consumer prices – both for new and existing connections – have overall fallen from 2021 to 2022. This is only seen in Denmark and the UK.
  • According to Ookla, Denmark has the fastest median broadband download speeds among the countries included in the comparison.

Tefficient’s approach has been thorough and the results are presented in a set of graphs like below.

Example graph from the analysis showing the total 2-year fee for the new build fibre case. The red trend line highlights Denmark’s position.
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5G, Analysis, data monetisation, FWA, mobile data usage

ARPU improved when data usage growth slowed down

Timely; inflation knocked on the door shortly after

Tefficient’s 34th public analysis on the development and drivers of mobile data ranks 104 operators based on average data usage per SIM, total data traffic and revenue per gigabyte in the full year of 2021 and in the first half of 2022.

In 2021 – a year marked by COVID – the data usage per SIM grew for 97% of operators. The average traffic growth was 32%. A majority of operators, 62%, could turn data usage growth into ARPU growth.

62% of operators could turn data usage growth into ARPU growth

Continue reading ARPU improved when data usage growth slowed down →
5G, Analysis, data monetisation, Finland, FWA, mobile data usage, South Korea

Usage growth decelerates after COVID – but monetisation improves

Tefficient’s 33rd public analysis of the development and drivers of mobile data compares 46 countries from all regions of the world.

In our previous reports for 2020 and 1H 2021 we could see that the pandemic drove mobile data usage – contrary to the belief that all that time we spent at home would offload mobile data traffic to Wi-Fi and fixed broadband.

But the usage backlash is here: During the second half of 2021 the demand for more mobile data slowed. If comparing countries where usage is available for both the first and the second half of the year, most experienced decelerating growth. There were even five countries with a decline in absolute usage: Australia, Iceland, Qatar, Austria and Bahrain.

Continue reading Usage growth decelerates after COVID – but monetisation improves →
Blog, Denmark, Fixed-mobile convergence, Norway, Spain, Sweden, TV

Comparing Scandinavia’s FMC propositions

During the last decade, fixed-mobile convergence – FMC for short – has come to dominate how connectivity and entertainment are sold to households in European markets like Spain, France, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands.

In Spain, around three quarters of the households currently subscribe to an FMC plan covering at least fixed broadband and one or multiple mobile subscriptions. Often TV or other entertainment services are included too.

Initially FMC was sold with massive discounts and the base grew quickly as it was a no-brainer not to buy everything from the same operator. Churn levels were improved dramatically too when a churn decision no longer just affected one service for one household member, but many different services consumed by many different people. [Some find it easier to negotiate with an operator than with members of the family].

In later years, FMC ARPU increased much, driven by more content (and more expensive content such as football) in the mix. Eventually, the operator thirst for higher and higher ARPU might have been the start of a negative base trend for FMC. In the graph below, we show the FMC net adds for Movistar (Telefónica Spain) since the launch of its Fusión FMC product.

Continue reading Comparing Scandinavia’s FMC propositions →
4G LTE, 5G, Analysis, CAPEX, data monetisation, Denmark, Finland, FTTx, FWA, mobile data usage, Nordic, Norway, References, Sweden

Assessment of Norwegian mobile and fixed broadband pricing in a Nordic context – 2022

Reference: Analysis, 2022

Norway’s Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development yesterday published two analyses commissioned from Tefficient.

The conclusion is summarised (in Norwegian) in a press release from the Ministry: https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/norske-mobilpriser-er-fortsatt-hoye-i-nordisk-sammenheng/id2909632/

Both analyses are quite comprehensive and compare Norway to the three fellow Nordic countries Denmark, Sweden and Finland. It means that they are highly interesting not just for the industry and policy makers in Norway, but in all four countries.

Sample graph from the mobile report
Sample graph from the fixed broadband report

Since the Ministry has made both analyses available for public download, you can access them directly and for free from here:

Assessment of Norwegian mobile revenues in a Nordic context – 2022

Assessment of Norwegian fixed broadband pricing in a Nordic context – 2022

The analyses are one-year-later updates of the original analyses that provided input to the government’s white paper to the Norwegian Parliament titled “Vår felles digitale grunnmur — Mobil-, bredbånds- og internettjenester“. See Tefficient’s reference from last year:

Assessment of Norwegian mobile and fixed broadband pricing in a Nordic context

Commissioned by Norway’s Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development.

Measure, compare and improve competitiveness in telecoms