The Western European fixed-line voice telephony market is going through a transition period but should emerge relatively unscathed from the economic downturn, according to a new report from IDC.
The market research firm cites consolidation in the service provider community and financial restructuring within the whole telecommunications sector as being responsible for the sea change in the market. The unfavourable economic conditions and international terrorism have led to a stabilisation of revenues as minutes of traffic have increased at the same time that the rate of traffic reductions has slowed.
“The traditional fixed-line telephony market in Western Europe is reaching saturation point,” said Nicky Walton, research analyst with IDC’s European Telecommunications Services group. “Revenues in most markets are declining due to tariff reductions coupled with the migration of fixed-line traffic onto mobile networks and broadband services.”
The report also claims that the number of Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) connections will be flat over the next few years and will only start to decline in 2006, as connections lost to mobile become offset by new connections supporting DSL services. The rate of growth in ISDN connections will also fall as more households and businesses switch to broadband.
| Western European Market For PSTN and ISDN Services |
| |
|
|
|
| Market |
2001 |
2006 |
CAGR |
| Number Of Connections (m) |
228 |
236 |
1% |
| Number Of Minutes (bn) |
1,431 |
1,441 |
0% |
| End-User Spend ($ bn) |
93 |
88 |
-1% |
| CAGR = Compound Annual Growth Rate |
| Source: IDC, January 2003 |
