About this market study

One well-documented and significant trend in the mobile industry is the ongoing decline in the prices of various mobile services. Voice prices have declined steeply over the years and a similar trend has been observed in the more popular data services, including SMS and other non-voice services, such as monotone or polyphonic ringtones, mobile games, etc. With the increase in the penetration of these applications, these services are beginning to account for significant portions of operators’ service revenues.

This report discusses the various trends in the pricing of mobile services, such as declining prices, changing pricing structure and flat pricing schemes, in different regions and the factors that have brought about these trends. In this report, we have attempted to understand how and why the prices of voice and data services have evolved in different markets, and how these prices are expected to change in the coming years. With the introduction of 3G technologies, will prices continue to decline, and will bundling of similar/complementary data services gain even more importance?

The report presents a brief overview of the worldwide mobile market, highlighting the key trends in the developed and developing markets (based on the penetration levels of mobile services). It analyses the evolution in pricing of voice services and data services (including messaging and other content-based services) in relation to the overall growth of these services.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Current State of Mobile Market
Worldwide Mobile Market – Overview
Developed Markets
Developing Markets

Pricing Trends in Mobile Services
Product Life Cycle of Mobile Services
Voice Services
Developed Markets
Developing Markets
Product Lifecycle of Voice Services
Data Services
Messaging
Other Data Services

The Effect of 3G on Pricing Trends in Mobile Services

Conclusions
Prices of all mobile services
Significant changes in pricing structure
Progressively lower cost of being mobile
Price decline primarily driven by the need to capture more market
Price variation of a mobile data service through its lifecycle

Appendices
Methodology of Forecasting
Portio Research Classifications
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List of Figures

Figure 1: Northern and Western Europe – Penetration (2004-2011)
Figure 2: Northern and Western Europe – Growth Rate of Mobile Subscribers (2004-2011)
Figure 3: UK – Data and Voice ARPU (2000-2004)
Figure 4: Share of Non-voice Services in the Total Revenue – Vodafone (2003-2005)
Figure 5: Mobile Subscribers in China and India (2002-2011)
Figure 6: China – Data and SMS ARPU (2002-2010)
Figure 7: Product Life Cycle of Mobile Services
Figure 8: UK – Volumes and Prices of Fixed and Mobile Calls (1985-2004)
Figure 9: UK – Market Share of Fixed and Mobile Calls in terms of MoU (1995-2004)
Figure 10: India – Price of Mobile Voice Calls and Mobile Subscribers (1998-2005)
Figure 11: China Mobile – Price of Mobile Voice Calls v/s Subscribers (2001-2005)
Figure 12: Product Life Cycle of Voice Services
Figure 13: Global – SMS Price and Volume (2004-2010)
Figure 14: Global – MMS Price and Volume (2004-2010)
Figure 15: Finland – SMS Volume and Price (1999-2000)
Figure 16: North America – SMS Volume and Price (2004-2010)
Figure 17: UK – Decline in MMS Prices for Key MNOs (2002-2005)
Figure 18: North America – MMS Volume and Price (2004-2010)
Figure 19: India – Ringtones Penetration and Volume (2005-2010)
Figure 20: Messaging (SMS, MMS) Services Volume (1999-2010)
Figure 21: Gompertz Curve

List of Tables

Table 1: Worldwide Mobile Subscribers (2002-2011)
Table 2: Northern and Western Europe, Selected Markets – Forecast of Mobile Subscribers (Millions) and Growth Rate (2004-2011)
Table 3: Asia Pacific – Forecast Mobile Penetration (%, 2002-2011)
Table 4: Europe – SMS Prices
Table 5: Europe – SMS Volumes
Table 6: UK – Real Price of SMS for O2
Table 7: India – Price of SMS (1995-2010)
Table 8: India – Price of MMS (2003-2010)
Table 9: India – Price of Browsing (2003-2005)
Table 10: US – Price of Mobile Games (2003-2005)
Table 11: India – Price of Mobile Games of Hutch (2004-2010)
Table 12: India – Price of Ringtones (2005-2010)
Table 13: Vodafone Prices (GBP, 2005)

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