WCA January 2012

Telecom news

is now very much to the fore. As construed by the EC Information Society (“Radio Spectrum: a Vital Resource in a Wireless World”), the spectrum underpins one of Europe’s most dynamic sectors. As well as telecommunications, wireless tech- nologies serve areas as diverse as transport, security, and environmental protection. “But the spectrum is a finite resource,” warns the EC. “Its allocation requires effective and efficient coordination at the European and global level.” ✆ For still more on spectrum-related matters, Moody’s Investors Service sees an absence of competition for licenses for next-generation spectrum as benefiting European telecoms by keeping auction prices at affordable levels for most of them. As reported by Michael Carroll of Telecom Asia (5 th October), the credit rating agency believes that the majority of companies will pay an average $1.99 billion each for 4G licenses in the region’s major markets. Carlos Winzer, a senior vice president of the Moody’s corporate finance division, predicted that incumbent carriers’ debt-funding levels will fall well below five per cent of their existing gross debt and that the financing method “on its own, should not affect the companies’ current ratings.” Mr Carroll noted that Moody’s retains its confidence despite recent auctions in Europe that yielded more than expected. In France, a first-round sale of 2.6gHz spectrum netted the country $1.24 billion – roughly 33% above the reserve price – while a sale in Italy raised $5.25 billion – some $1.13 billion higher than expected. However, because Moody’s treats the investments as one-off items rather than as capital expenses, ratings are unlikely to be affected in most cases. Elsewhere in telecom . . . ✆ The widespread outage of BlackBerry services in October affected customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, but its impact on Latin America was much less severe. Adriano Lino, the Latin America marketing intelli- gence manager for the Canadian smartphone maker Research in Motion (RIM), told Business News

London-based Business Monitor International (BMI) is an independent provider of data and analysis covering 175 countries and 22 industry sectors. The most recent of its quarterly telecommunications updates, published 18 th October, analysed the French market for fixed-line, mobile telephony and broadband services. According to “Research and Markets: France Telecommunications Report Q4 2011,” data from the principal operators and the national regulator show that, despite saturation, the French mobile market continues to show robust growth, and the fixed and broadband market is expanding steadily. Meanwhile, the rate of decline in traditional voice telephony services accelerated slightly. BMI expected the French market to be serving 66.67 million subscribers by the end of 2011, rising to 72.80 million in 2015. Again BMI identified the mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) as the engine for top-line growth in mobile in France. While the country’s network operators focus on upgrading existing 2G and 3G subscribers to mobile broadband – and into multiplay converged services packages – the MVNOs enjoy continued success by addressing the niche and low-cost markets increasingly ignored by their network rivals. Growth in broadband voice and cable telephony services in France has served to slow the rate of decline for voice connection as a whole. But a slump in traditional line usage caused BMI to adjust downwards an earlier five-year growth forecast. BMI now expects that, by 2015, there will be 16.72 million traditional voice lines in service in France, a penetration rate of 26.2 per cent. ✆ The auction by France of 800MHz and 2.6GHz spectrum that can be used to offer 4G services using LTE-based networks is under way. Fourteen parcels of 800MHz spectrum were to be offered; and these, according to BMI, “will be hotly contested.” The French government reportedly hopes to raise as much as $3.4 billion from the spectrum sale. In France, mobile virtual network operators flourish by concentrating on the neglected niche and low-end markets

The Commissioner for Digital Agenda warns that Europe must lose no time in moving ahead on radio spectrum policy “Next-generation fixed solutions are not the whole story. We also need wireless infrastructure for the 90 per cent of European households with access to a mobile; for the one-third of Europeans who can use their mobiles to access the Internet; and as a competitive complement to fibre broadband access, particularly for those who live in more isolated areas.” The speaker was Neelie Kroes, the European Commission vice president responsible for Digital Agenda e-Communications, who in October was in Warsaw for a conference on the development of the electronics communications market in the European Union. Ms Kroes left no doubt in the minds of her listeners of her conviction that Europe cannot afford to

postpone action on a Radio Spectrum Policy Programme common to the bloc. Two consultations had been initiated by Ms Kroes – on nondiscrimination and on access prices. But, as noted by Julian Clover of broadbandtvnews. com (20 th October), concern has been expressed in the industry over the use of public funds “aimed at gapfill and boosting investment.” Manuel Kohnstamm, the president of Cable Europe, assured Mr Clover of the eurozone trade association’s support for subsidised greenfield development – “provided that cable gets its fair share.” But, he said, if public funds were to be invested in areas where nascent players (new entrants) are already setting up shop, or have new investment in the planning stage, that use of taxpayer money “could be hugely distorting.” The EC is proposing to set aside $12.7 billion for what has been described as the “connecting Europe facility.” In Warsaw, Ms Kroes called for action within days. Whether or not that was in the cards, the issue

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Wire & Cable ASIA – January/February 2012