Abstract
Publication Overview
This report provides a comprehensive overview of trends and developments in
Italy' s telecommunications market. The report analyses the mobile, Internet,
broadband, digital TV and converging media sectors. Subjects include:
- Market and industry analyses, trends and developments;
- Facts, figures and statistics;
- Industry and regulatory issues;
- Infrastructure;
- Major players, revenues, subscribers, ARPU, MoU;
- Internet, VoIP, IPTV;
- Mobile voice and data markets;
- Broadband (FttH, DSL, cable TV, wireless);
- Convergence and digital media;
- 3G subscriber and mobile ARPU forecasts to 2015;
- Broadband market forecasts for selective years to 2020.
Key developments:
Regulator addresses fibre network open access; proposed FiberCo to coordinate
fibre deployments to 20 million people in 15 cities by 2015; Telecom Italia
commitment to deliver FttH/FttB to an additional 138 cities by 2018; analogue
TV spectrum auction troubled by broadcaster compensation claims; Dahlia TV
folds; Sky Italia and Fastweb team to provide bundled services; NGN Committee
works on open access network; Fastweb bundles broadband with Sky Italia;
regulator extends 3G licences to 2029 and GSM licences to 2027; mobile market
value falls to € 21 billion in 2010; TIM to close mobile TV service; 3
Italia signs a seven-year managed services contract with Ericsson; regulator' s
2010 market data; operator data to Q1 2011.
Companies covered in this report include:
Telecom Italia, Wind, Fastweb, Tiscali, Sky Italia, Tivusat, BT Italia,
Metroweb, Vodafone, Wind.
Executive Summary
Italy' s NGNs receiving greater regulatory impetus
BuddeComm' s quarterly publication, Italy - Telecoms, IP Networks, Digital
Media and Forecasts, provides a comprehensive overview of the trends and
developments in the telecommunications and digital media markets in one of
Europe' s key telecom markets. It includes the regulator' s annual market data
for 2010 as well as operator data to the first quarter of 2011.
Italy has the fourth largest telecom market in Europe. It has been deeply
affected by the economic crash which has continued to linger since mid-2008.
In 2009, GDP fell by about 5%, though growth in both 2010 and 2011 at about 1%
has seen some respite both for operators and consumers. The reduction in
household spending was about 2% in 2010 while investment in fixed networks has
also fallen sharply during the last three years, with the exception of
investment in fibre networks. There remains deflationary pressure on
communications services as operators struggle to meet their investment
commitments while consumers have reined in non-discretionary spend.
Nevertheless, since 2007 the sector has shown a greater resilience than other
sectors of the economy, showing an overall growth of 2.2% in 2010, as well as
a forecasted growth of 2.5% in 2011. In the fixed-line telephony sector,
influenced by fixed-mobile substitution and consumer switch to VoIP services,
lower voice revenue is no longer compensated by growth from data and Internet
services.
In 2010, the Italian telecoms services market was worth about € 21
billion, a slight fall from 2009. The multimedia sector grew 6.4% while the
data services sector fell 5.3%. The fixed-line market (Voice and VAS voice)
fell year-on-year to about € 8.5 billion, largely due to the drop in
voice traffic revenues. The Internet access market was worth about € 4.3
billion, with broadband accounting for 99% of this. One of the main drivers
continues to be mobile data services, with mobile network operators (MNOs)
providing a greater range of advanced mobile broadband services.
Although there are a number of fixed voice operators, just four of them
control 90% of the market in terms of retail revenues. Telecom Italia' s share
in the fixed voice market has fallen to about 60%, while its share in the
lucrative broadband market is about 56%.
Italy' s Internet market continues to grow steadily, with Internet user
penetration of about 65% by mid-2011 and broadband penetration approaching
25%. The ADSL broadband sector has also shown steady growth in the absence of
competition from cable networks. FttH projects are concentrated among the main
cities, although there are a number of municipal projects which supplement the
efforts of telcos.
The deployment of NGNs is relatively nascent in Italy. The government' s
contribution to developing a national All-IP network, originally muted at
€ 1.47 from public and European Community funds, has been scaled down as
a result of its own budget restraints. The regulator has formulated network
sharing frameworks among the chief players, but thus far Telecom Italia has
guarded its business independence and is pursuing its own € 6.5 billion
NGN investment while a consortium including Fastweb, Wind and Vodafone are
building an NGN of their own, at an initial cost of € 2.5 billion to
cover 15 cities. The potential for network duplication, combined with the debt
burden carried by the incumbent, risks derailing these plans unless the
regulator shows sharper teeth in forcing through the same measures
successfully adopted by other NRAs.
In the mobile sector Italy has one of the strongest markets in Europe, with
mobile penetration far above the EU average and a large 3G subscriber base.
The market was worth an estimated € 17.2 billion in 2010. Market
saturation has led to slower growth in recent years, while regulated MTRS and
roaming fees, combined with fierce competition among players, will further
lower revenue during the next two years. From 2012, subscriber contracts based
on LTE will enable high-end data services to counter-balance the continuing
decline in voice revenue.
Key telecom parameters - 2010; 2012
Market Highlights
- Italian MNOs are progressing with LTE trials with a view to launching
commercial services in 2011 and 2012. Telecom Italia plans to cover Milan and
Rome initially, supplemented by Evolved HSPA.
- Most investment by MNOs has gone to providing HSPA and LTE software
upgrades and improving the performance of GSM networks. While the number of
mobile broadband subscribers has increased, this has yet to translate into
greater mobile data use or revenue. The number of 3G subscribers is expected
to reach some 62 million by 2015, representing almost 70% of all mobile
subscribers.
- Fibre networks are concentrated in the main cities, which are cheaper and
easier to service. There were about 400,000 active FttH connections in
mid-2011, while the number of connected households reached about 2.7 million.
Regulatory controls are required to push fibre further into the regions, or
here is a risk that Italy will become a two-tier broadband nation.
- MNOs have busily supplemented rural areas underserved by fixed-line
broadband with wireless solutions. Vodafone' s HSPA+ network, benefiting from a
€ 1 billion investment, is aimed at reaching 1,800 towns having no
wireless broadband access by 2014, providing at least 2Mb/s.
- ASO has kept to schedule, though digital switchover affecting the last
regions may be brought forward to 2011 given the high proportion of residents
in these areas which have already switched to digital TV. In line with
developments elsewhere in Europe, digital dividend spectrum will be used
primarily for mobile broadband services when available.
This report is essential reading for those needing high level strategic
information and objective analysis on the telecom sector in Italy. It provides
further information on:
- Market liberalisation and regulatory issues;
- The impact of the global economic crisis;
- Telecoms operators - privatisation, acquisitions, new licences;
- Mobile data market developments in coming years in light of spectrum
auctions and new license awards in 2010;
- 3G developments, regulatory issues and technologies including HSPA and LTE;
- Broadband migration to an FttH architecture;
- Historical and current subscriber statistics and forecasts;
- ARPU statistics and forecasts.
Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and
may not be for the current year.
Table of Contents
1. Key Statistics
2. Telecommunications Market
- 2.1 Overview of Italy' s telecom market
3. Regulatory Environment
- 3.1 Regulatory environment Overview
- 3.1.1 Regulatory authority
- 3.1.2 Telecom sector liberalisation in Italy
4. Fixed Network Market
- 4.1 Fixed network operators in Italy
- 4.1.1 Overview of operators
- 4.1.2 Telecom Italia
- 4.1.3 Wind
- 4.1.4 BT Italia
- 4.1.5 Tiscali
- 4.1.6 Fastweb
5. Telecommunications Infrastructure
- 5.1 National telecom network
- 5.2 International
- 5.2.1 Submarine cable networks
- 5.2.2 Satellite networks
- 5.3 Infrastructure developments
- 5.3.1 Next Generation Network (NGN)
6. Broadband Market
- 6.1 Overview
- 6.1.1 Broadband statistics
- 6.1.2 Government support
- 6.1.3 Regional development
- 6.2 Cable modems
- 6.3 Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
- 6.3.1 Wholesale market
- 6.3.2 Telecom Italia
- 6.3.3 Fastweb
- 6.3.4 Tiscali
- 6.3.5 Wind
- 6.3.6 ADSL2+
- 6.3.7 Naked DSL
- 6.4 Fibre-to-the-Home (FttH) networks
- 6.4.1 Overview
- 6.4.2 Telecom Italia
- 6.4.3 Fastweb
- 6.4.4 Rival networks
- 6.4.5 Other developments
- 6.5 Wireless broadband
- 6.5.1 Wireless Local Loop (WLL)
- 6.5.2 Wireless LANs/WiFi
- 6.5.3 WiMAX
- 6.6 Mobile broadband
- 6.6.1 Internet via satellite
7. Digital Media
- 7.1 Convergence
- 7.1.1 Key general trends
- 7.1.2 Business models
- 7.1.3 Regulatory issues
- 7.2 Digital TV (DTV)
- 7.2.1 Broadband (IPTV)
- 7.2.2 Cable TV (CATV)
- 7.2.3 Satellite-based digital pay TV developments
- 7.2.4 Digital Terrestrial TV (DTTV)
- 7.2.5 Analogue switchover
- 7.2.6 The digital TV network in Italy
- 7.2.7 Digital cinema
- 7.2.8 Video-on-Demand (VoD)
- 7.2.9 Personal Video Recorders (PVRs)
- 7.2.10 Free-to-Air (FTA) TV
- 7.2.11 VoIP
8. Mobile Communications
- 8.1 Overview of Italy' s mobile market
- 8.1.1 Mobile statistics
- 8.1.2 Operator market shares
- 8.2 Regulatory issues
- 8.2.1 Spectrum regulations and spectrum auctions
- 8.2.2 Roaming
- 8.2.3 Network sharing
- 8.2.4 Number portability
- 8.2.5 Mobile termination
- 8.2.6 Fixed-mobile convergence (FMC)
- 8.3 Mobile technologies
- 8.3.1 Digital
- 8.3.2 Third Generation (3G) mobile
- 8.4 Major mobile operators
- 8.4.1 3 Italia
- 8.4.2 TIM
- 8.4.3 Vodafone Italy
- 8.4.4 Wind
- 8.4.5 MVNOs
- 8.5 Mobile voice services
- 8.6 Mobile Messaging
- 8.6.1 Short Messaging Service (SMS)
- 8.6.2 Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS)
- 8.7 Mobile data services
- 8.7.1 Overview
- 8.7.2 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
- 8.7.3 High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA)
- 8.7.4 Evolved HSPA (HSPA+)
- 8.7.5 Femtocells
- 8.7.6 iPhone
- 8.7.7 Mobile TV
- 8.7.8 Long-term evolution (LTE)
- 8.8 Mobile content and applications
- 8.8.1 Location-based services
- 8.8.2 Mobile banking/ticketing
- 8.8.3 Payment services
9. Forecasts
- 9.1 Broadband subscriber Forecasts - 2009 - 2013; 2020
- 9.1.1 Scenario 1 - higher broadband subscriber growth
- 9.1.2 Scenario 2 - lower broadband subscriber growth
- 9.2 Mobile Forecasts
- 9.2.1 Forecasts - Mobile ARPU - 2009 - 2015
- 9.2.2 Forecasts - UMTS subscribers - 2009 - 2010; 2015
- 9.3 Notes on scenario forecasts
10. Glossary of Abbreviations
- Table 1 - Country statistics - 2011(e)
- Table 2 - Telecom revenue and investment statistics - 2010
- Table 3 - Telephone network statistics - 2010
- Table 4 - Internet user statistics - 2010
- Table 5 - Broadband statistics - 2010
- Table 6 - Mobile statistics - 2011 (e)
- Table 7 - National telecommunications authority
- Table 8 - Index of base prices, fixed and mobile services - 2007 - 2010
- Table 9 - Fixed and mobile market investment - 2004 - 2010
- Table 10 - Telco market share, fixed and mobile services - 2008 - 2010
- Table 11 - Fixed and mobile market revenue - 2006 - 2010
- Table 12 - Retail revenue, fixed and mobile market - 2008 - 2010
- Table 13 - Fixed termination rates by company - 2007 - 2010
- Table 14 - Telecom Italia wholesale access lines - 2007 - 2011
- Table 15 - LLU, shared access price - connection, monthly rental - 2006 -
2009
- Table 16 - Cumulative numbers ported - 2002 - 2009
- Table 17 - CPS lines - 2005 - 2010
- Table 18 - Fixed-network access by type - 2008 - 2010
- Table 19 - Fixed-line services revenue by operator - 2009 - 2010
- Table 20 - Fixed-line services revenue - 2009 - 2010
- Table 21 - Telecom Italia fixed-line accesses by sector - 2006 - 2011
- Table 22 - Telecom Italia fixed network revenue by sector - 2006 - 2011
- Table 23 - Telecom Italia Group financial data - 2005 - 2011
- Table 24 - Telecom Italia domestic revenue - 2005 - 2011
- Table 25 - Wind subscribers by sector - 2006 - 2010
- Table 26 - Wind annualised fixed-line ARPU - 2006 - 2010
- Table 27 - Wind financial data - 2006 - 2010
- Table 28 - Tiscali subscribers (Italy) - 2007 - 2011
- Table 29 - Tiscali revenue by sector - 2006 - 2011
- Table 30 - Tiscali revenue breakdown by sector - 2007 - 2011
- Table 31 - Fastweb financial data (€ ) - 2005 - 2009
- Table 32 - Fastweb financial data (CHF) - 2008 - 2011
- Table 33 - Fastweb broadband subscribers - 2005 - 2011
- Table 34 - Telecom Italia access lines - 2008 - 2011
- Table 35 - Internet subscribers and penetration rate - 1991 - 2011
- Table 36 - Total fixed broadband subscribers by access type - 2002 - 2012
- Table 37 - Broadband penetration by technology - 2004 - 2010
- Table 38 - Broadband lines by operator and technology - 2007 - 2009
- Table 39 - Broadband revenue - 2008 - 2010
- Table 40 - Broadband market share of revenue by operator - 2008 - 2010
- Table 41 - Broadband market share of subscribers by operator - 2009 - 2010
- Table 42 - New broadband subscribers by year - 2005 - 2010
- Table 43 - Proportion of broadband connections by speed - 2009 - 2010
- Table 44 - Telecom Italia NGN2 FttX deployment - 2009 - 2011
- Table 45 - ADSL subscribers - 2002 - 2012
- Table 46 - Telecom Italia share of broadband connections - 2008 - 2010
- Table 47 - Telecom Italia broadband subscribers by sector - 2006 - 2011
- Table 48 - Telecom Italia wholesale access lines - 2007 - 2011
- Table 49 - Telecom Italia broadband ARPU - 2006 - 2011
- Table 50 - Telecom Italia broadband revenue - 2007 - 2011
- Table 51 - Fastweb financial data - 2005 - 2010
- Table 52 - Fastweb broadband subscribers - 2005 - 2011
- Table 53 - Tiscali subscribers (Italy) - 2007 - 2011
- Table 54 - Tiscali financial data - 2008 - 2011
- Table 55 - Wind broadband subscribers - 2005 - 2010
- Table 56 - FttH accesses - 2004 - 2012
- Table 57 - Telecom Italia fibre accesses - 2007 - 2010
- Table 58 - Telecom Italia projected network cabinets - 2008 - 2010
- Table 59 - Mobile broadband subscribers by type - 2008 - 2009
- Table 60 - Telecom Italia mobile broadband revenue - 2008 - 2009
- Table 61 - Market share by broadcaster - 2009 - 2010
- Table 62 - Revenue by broadcaster - 2009 - 2010
- Table 63 - Distribution of TV households by platform - 2008-2010
- Table 64 - Distribution of digital TV households by platform - 2008-2010
- Table 65 - Statistical overview of Italy' s broadcasting market - April 2010
- Table 66 - Pay TV subscribers by technology - 2003 - 2010
- Table 67 - Pay TV revenue by platform - 2008 - 2009
- Table 68 - TV revenue by platform - 2008 - 2009
- Table 69 - Pay TV market share by operator - 2009 - 2010
- Table 70 - Telecom Italia IP TV subscribers - 2007 - 2011
- Table 71 - Fastweb IPTV subscribers - 2008 - 2009
- Table 72 - Cable TV subscribers and penetration rate - 1996 - 2011; 2015
- Table 73 - Forecast satellite TV penetration - 2007 - 2015
- Table 74 - SKY Italia subscribers - 2006 - 2010
- Table 75 - SKY Italia financial data - 2007 - 2010
- Table 76 - Mediaset financial data (Italy) - 2008 - 2009
- Table 77 - Mediaset Premium active clients - 2007 - 2010
- Table 78 - DTTV receivers, forecasts and annual change - 2004 - 2013
- Table 79 - Telecom Italia VoIP subscribers - 2006 - 2011
- Table 80 - Mobile operators, subscribers and annual change - Mar 2011
- Table 81 - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate - 1995; 1997; 1999 -
2012
- Table 82 - Mobile market revenue - 2008 - 2010
- Table 83 - Mobile market share of revenue by operator - 2008 - 2010
- Table 84 - Revenue per active SIM - 2008 - 2012
- Table 85 - Revenue by service - 2009 - 2010
- Table 86 - Mobile market investments - 2009 - 2010
- Table 87 - Mobile market share of subscribers by operator - 2004 - 2010
- Table 88 - European roaming charges - 2007 - 2011
- Table 89 - Cumulative mobile numbers ported - 2003 - 2010
- Table 90 - Mobile termination rates - 2008 - 2012
- Table 91 - UMTS/HSPA subscribers - 2004 - 2010
- Table 92 - 3 Italia mobile subscribers - 2008 - 2011
- Table 93 - 3 Italia annualised ARPU - 2008 - 2010
- Table 94 - 3 Italia mobile revenue - 2008 - 2010
- Table 95 - TIM mobile subscribers - 2005 - 2011
- Table 96 - TIM revenue (residential) - 2005 - 2010
- Table 97 - TIM revenue by sector, annual change - 2008 - 2011
- Table 98 - Vodafone subscribers - 2001 - 2011
- Table 99 - Vodafone revenue by sector - 2008 - 2011
- Table 100 - Vodafone prepaid, contract and blended ARPU (€ ) - 2004 -
2011
- Table 101 - Vodafone mobile customer cost - 2007 - 2011
- Table 102 - Wind operational statistics and revenue - 2005 - 2010
- Table 103 - Wind annualised mobile ARPU - 2005 - 2010
- Table 104 - Wind mobile subscriber statistics - 2005 - 2010
- Table 105 - MVNO mobile subscribers and revenue - 2008 - 2010
- Table 106 - MVNO market share of revenue, subscribers - 2009 - 2010
- Table 107 - MVNO subscribers by operator - 2009 - 2010
- Table 108 - MVNO market share of MVNO subscribers - 2008 - 2010
- Table 109 - Prepaid cards in service - 2009 - 2010
- Table 110 - SMS/MMS and other data revenue - 2008 - 2010
- Table 111 - Vodafone data as proportion of revenue - 2005 - 2010
- Table 112 - Mobile data revenue as proportion of total - 2004 - 2010
- Table 113 - Growth in data use - 2007 - 2010
- Table 114 - Forecast broadband subscribers - higher market growth scenario
- 2009 - 2013; 2020
- Table 115 - Forecast broadband subscribers - lower market growth scenario
- 2009 - 2013; 2020
- Table 116 - Forecast mobile ARPU - 2009 - 2015
- Table 117 - Forecast UMTS subscribers and penetration rate - 2009 - 2010;
2015
- Chart 1 - Fixed and mobile market investment - 2004 - 2010
- Chart 2 - Total fixed and mobile market revenue - 2006 - 2010
- Chart 3 - Retail revenue, fixed and mobile market - 2008 - 2010
- Chart 4 - Telecom Italia wholesale access lines - 2007 - 2011
- Chart 5 - Telecom Italia fixed-line accesses by sector - 2006 - 2011
- Chart 6 - Telecom Italia fixed network revenue by sector - 2006 - 2011
- Chart 7 - Telecom Italia Group financial data - 2006 - 2011
- Chart 8 - Telecom Italia domestic revenue - 2005 - 2011
- Chart 9 - Wind subscribers by sector - 2006 - 2010
- Chart 10 - Wind financial data - 2006 - 2010
- Chart 11 - Tiscali subscribers (Italy) - 2007 - 2011
- Chart 12 - Tiscali revenue by sector - 2006 - 2011
- Chart 13 - Fastweb financial data (CHF) - 2008 - 2011
- Chart 14 - Internet subscribers and penetration rate - 2002 - 2011
- Chart 15 - Total fixed broadband subscribers by access type - 2002 - 2012
- Chart 16 - Telecom Italia broadband subscribers by sector - 2006 - 2011
- Chart 17 - Telecom Italia wholesale access lines - 2006 - 2011
- Chart 18 - Tiscali subscribers (Italy) - 2007 - 2011
- Chart 19 - Tiscali financial data - 2008 - 2011
- Chart 20 - Revenue by broadcaster - 2009 - 2010
- Chart 21 - Distribution of TV households by platform - 2008 - 2010
- Chart 22 - Distribution of digital TV households by platform - 2008 - 2010
- Chart 23 - Pay TV revenue by platform - 2008 - 2009
- Chart 24 - TV revenue by platform - 2008 - 2009
- Chart 25 - Mediaset financial data (Italy) - 2008 - 2010
- Chart 26 - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate - 2002 - 2012
- Chart 27 - Mobile market revenue - 2008 - 2010
- Chart 28 - Revenue per active SIM - 2008 - 2011
- Chart 29 - Revenue by service - 2009 - 2010
- Chart 30 - 3 Italia mobile subscribers - 2008 - 2011
- Chart 31 - 3 Italia annualised ARPU - 2008 - 2010
- Chart 32 - 3 Italia mobile revenue - 2008 - 2010
- Chart 33 - TIM annualised ARPU - 2005 - 2011
- Chart 34 - TIM revenue by sector, annual change - 2008 - 2011
- Chart 35 - Vodafone prepaid, contract and blended ARPU (€ ) - 2004 -
2011
- Chart 36 - SMS/MMS and other data revenue - 2008 - 2010
- Exhibit 1 - EU - The New Regulatory Framework (NRF)
- Exhibit 2 - Access and the local loop
- Exhibit 3 - Principal backbone providers - 2011
- Exhibit 4 - WiMAX licensees - 2010
- Exhibit 5 - Overview of media convergence
- Exhibit 6 - DTTV ASO by region - 2008 - 2012
- Exhibit 7 - UMTS auction results - 2000
- Exhibit 8 - UMTS auction results - 2009
