UK Telecommunications Industry 2011

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ie market research in its 2Q11 United Kingdom Mobile Operator Forecast, 2011 - 2015 forecasts that the number of total mobile subscriber connections in United Kingdom will increase from 81.6 million in the end of 2010 to 91.4 million in the end of 2015.

With the merger between Orange and T-Mobile, ie market research expects that the merged company, Everything Everywhere, will have approximately 32.2 million mobile subscribers in 2015.

It forecasts that Telefonica O2 UK will have 24.6 million mobile subscribers in 2015 (26.9% market share). We expect that the number of mobile subscribers of Hutchison 3G UK will continue to increase, reaching 6.6 million by the end of 2015.

UK Mobile Subscribers by Operator Forecasts 2009 - 2015

Source: 2Q11 United Kingdom Mobile Operator Forecast, 2011 - 2015

Claim your FREE copy of ie market research's 2Q11 UK Mobile Forecast - 11 pages, 7 charts.

The UK has an innovative broadcast sector which has pioneered business models for distributing digital content. As a consequence, mobile and broadband penetration is comfortably ahead of the European average, while digital TV uptake has reached 92% of the population. Consumer prices across the board have fallen steadily, while network capabilities have been greatly expanded following recent investments by the incumbent British Telecom and Virgin Media in Next Generation Networks.

A review of the key aspects of the UK's fixed-line, broadband and mobile markets is contained in 'United Kingdom - Telecoms market trends and opportunities to 2015'.

Competition remains fierce in all sectors of the market, leading to lower prices for consumers and more generous offers from providers as they struggle to secure market share. The once-fragmented broadband market is now dominated by a single cable provider and three DSL providers, though numerous other ISPs operate on the periphery. The mobile market can expect significant changes during the next two years following the July 2010 merger of two MNOs which created a single operator far larger than its rivals, having significant interests in the fixed line and broadband sectors.

Keys areas for operator investment during the next few years remain fibre-based networks and mobile networks. This upgraded infrastructure is needed to provide universal broadband, and to secure the UK’s socio-economic prosperity for decades to come. To this end, significant spectrum auctions will enable MNOs from early 2012 to develop mobile broadband services with vastly improved performance, while regulatory measures have expedited the roll-out of fibre networks by reducing costs and promoting infrastructure sharing among telcos.

This issues are more fully discussed in United Kingdom Telecoms - Market Analysis 2010.

Wireless Broadband

Meanwhile Wireless broadband has seen moderate growth in the UK in recent years. Many WiFi and WiMAX deployments have been instigated by municipalities, while the major wireless operators have expanded their networks and concentrated on sharing hotspots. Wireless broadband on mobile networks has shown phenomenal growth in 2010 as consumers exploit the wider availability of HSPA networks, and this growth is set to continue during the next few years as the sector matures. From 2012 high-end mobile data will be stimulated by the availability of greater network capacity through LTE operating on spectrum scheduled to be auctioned at the end of 2011. This report provides statistics and data for the UK’s wireless broadband market, reviewing recent developments in WiFi and WLAN infrastructure and mobile broadband.

To review the status of the key market players and spectrum licensing, and look ahead to opportunities for coming years, check out United Kingdom - Wireless Broadband Insights and Statistics.

Key developments are the Regulator allowing spectrum trading in the 900MHz, 1800MHz and 2.1GHZ bands; average mobile broadband speeds reach only 1.5Mb/s; UK Broadband plans for LTE launch; 17% of the population making use of mobile broadband; average mobile broadband speeds estimated at 1.5Mb/s; regulator's 2010 market data report and data to Q1 2011; operator data to June 2011.

National Broadband Policy

The UK's current broadband policy, which will guide the sector's development through to 2015 at least, is to a large measure based on Lord Carter's Digital Britain report, released in June 2009 and since legislated for in the April 2010 Digital Economy Act. This proposed a number of recommendations to provide an improved broadband network for the country. One of the key tenets was the provision of at least 2Mb/s nationally by 2015 (put back from 2012 as a result of funding issues). The remaining 10% of premises which cannot be effectively served by fixed-line broadband are to be provisioned with mobile broadband. To this end, the regulator Ofcom is currently preparing for the late-2011 joint auction of 800MHz and 2.6GHz spectrum which will be utilized by operators for LTE services. In addition, refarmed 900MHz spectrum will also be allowed for mobile broadband.

The measures outlined in the Digital Economy Act were updated in July with a government 'roadmap' on how universal broadband is to be implemented in practice. The main milestones include completing the consultation on freeing up infrastructure (November 2010), completing the regulatory impact assessment report (September 2011), and having BT and other providers open their infrastructure to third parties (by November 2011).

Following the June 2010 election, the Coalition government appointed Ed Vaizey as Minister for Digital Britain, replacing Stephen Timms who as Financial Secretary at the Treasury had been the acting minister for Digital Britain. Jeremy Hunt, the Minister for Culture, Media and Sport in charge of telecoms and responsible for seeing the delivery of broadband, also has a significant role in policy issues and implementation.

More on the government's strategy will be found in United Kingdom - National Broadband Policy.

UK Telecom Vendors (Manufacturers)

The UK communications equipment market had total revenue of $1.3 billion in 2009, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.6% for the period spanning 2005-2009.

The UK fixed line telecoms market had total revenue of $24,221.1 million in 2009, whilst the UK internet access market generated total revenues of $5.6 billion in 2009, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.8% for the period spanning 2005-2009.The UK mobile phones market had total revenue of $3 billion in 2009, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.4% for the period spanning 2005-2009.

For more, please see Telecommunications - United Kingdom Industry Guide

UK Fixed telecoms market

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