Russian telecom keeps East European model
The specialists of iKS-Consulting investigated the telecommunications of Eastern Europe and came to the conclusion that cellular communication in Russia is much cheaper than in other countries of this region - despite the general similarity of incomes and consumer behavior of residents of Eastern European countries.
The study itself was undertaken in order to find analogies in the development of telecommunications in the near abroad, which are necessary for analyzing the local Russian market. “After all, Russia has much in common with the countries of Eastern Europe - both from historical and economic points of view,” analysts explain.
So, as was said, one of the first conclusions of iKS-Consulting: in Russia, subscribers of communication networks spend less - both in absolute and relative terms. The level of average incomes brought by one subscriber to a cellular operator (ARPU) is one of the lowest in our country. Thus, in the rating of Eastern European operators by ARPU, the domestic "Big Three" occupies the penultimate position, second only to the Romanian telecom company Cosmote. In the first half of 2006, Megafon, MTS and VimpelCom had ARPU indicators of $ 10.2, $ 7.3 and $ 6.7, respectively. For comparison, the largest ARPU in Eastern Europe is with the Estonian operator Radiolinja ($ 35.9) and the Latvian LMT ($ 35.1).
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The level of cellular penetration in the Russian Federation is high, but we are quite far from Eastern European leaders in terms of this indicator. But by the number of subscribers, Russia, of course, ranks first: 140.5 million subscribers existed in the country as of June 31, 2006, and the cellular penetration rate was estimated at 97%. The largest penetration of telecom services was noted in Lithuania (169%) and the Czech Republic (115%), the smallest - in Latvia (81%). At the same time in Lithuania, for example, the number of subscribers amounted to 5.8 million people.
“The popularity of cellular communication is explained by the passivity of the former fixed monopolists,” according to iKS-Consulting. And with a similar cost of services, there is a gradual replacement of a fixed phone with a cellular one, because mobile operators are actively engaged in marketing and building infrastructure. Now the penetration of fixed telephony within Eastern Europe is in the range from 20% to 33%. In Russia, its penetration rate is estimated at 29%.
In addition, mobile operators are making significant investments to maintain growth, and this attracts investors. In Eastern Europe as a whole, more is being invested in the cellular segment than in the fixed segment. In Russia, investments in the cellular and fixed segments are related as 66% to 26%.
Analysts say that in most countries, the three "top" operators occupy from 97% to 100% of the market. But, despite their high concentration, competition exists, is quite tough and helps reduce ARPU. In Russia, top-3 operators serve 86% of the market with more than 50 operators. “We can expect that in the future the Russian market will be consolidated by combining regional operators and developing according to the Eastern European model,” the researchers conclude.
The study itself was undertaken in order to find analogies in the development of telecommunications in the near abroad, which are necessary for analyzing the local Russian market. “After all, Russia has much in common with the countries of Eastern Europe - both from historical and economic points of view,” analysts explain.
So, as was said, one of the first conclusions of iKS-Consulting: in Russia, subscribers of communication networks spend less - both in absolute and relative terms. The level of average incomes brought by one subscriber to a cellular operator (ARPU) is one of the lowest in our country. Thus, in the rating of Eastern European operators by ARPU, the domestic "Big Three" occupies the penultimate position, second only to the Romanian telecom company Cosmote. In the first half of 2006, Megafon, MTS and VimpelCom had ARPU indicators of $ 10.2, $ 7.3 and $ 6.7, respectively. For comparison, the largest ARPU in Eastern Europe is with the Estonian operator Radiolinja ($ 35.9) and the Latvian LMT ($ 35.1).
')
The level of cellular penetration in the Russian Federation is high, but we are quite far from Eastern European leaders in terms of this indicator. But by the number of subscribers, Russia, of course, ranks first: 140.5 million subscribers existed in the country as of June 31, 2006, and the cellular penetration rate was estimated at 97%. The largest penetration of telecom services was noted in Lithuania (169%) and the Czech Republic (115%), the smallest - in Latvia (81%). At the same time in Lithuania, for example, the number of subscribers amounted to 5.8 million people.
“The popularity of cellular communication is explained by the passivity of the former fixed monopolists,” according to iKS-Consulting. And with a similar cost of services, there is a gradual replacement of a fixed phone with a cellular one, because mobile operators are actively engaged in marketing and building infrastructure. Now the penetration of fixed telephony within Eastern Europe is in the range from 20% to 33%. In Russia, its penetration rate is estimated at 29%.
In addition, mobile operators are making significant investments to maintain growth, and this attracts investors. In Eastern Europe as a whole, more is being invested in the cellular segment than in the fixed segment. In Russia, investments in the cellular and fixed segments are related as 66% to 26%.
Analysts say that in most countries, the three "top" operators occupy from 97% to 100% of the market. But, despite their high concentration, competition exists, is quite tough and helps reduce ARPU. In Russia, top-3 operators serve 86% of the market with more than 50 operators. “We can expect that in the future the Russian market will be consolidated by combining regional operators and developing according to the Eastern European model,” the researchers conclude.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/4425/
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