Spanish mobile market: competition intensifies

Key messages

Ovum view

Market overview: mature and saturated

• More growth to come
• Competition will continue to increase
• Further price declines in basic mobile services to come
• 3G connections gaining momentum
• Established MNOs focusing on postpaid
• FMC is still in its infancy
• FMS is fuelled by discounted on-net rates

Operator positioning

• Spain is Telefonica' s home market
• Vodafone Spain outperforms Germany, Italy and the UK
• France Telecom' s compact portfolio places reliance on Spain
• Yoigo must differentiate itself

Established MNOs' strategies

• Holding onto their high-value subscribers
• Encouraging usage
• MNOs want to offer total telecoms services
• Reducing costs across both fixed and mobile

New entrant strategies

• Figure 1: Mobile penetration rates for Spain and Western European average, 2006- 11
• Figure 2: Decrease in mobile voice prices in Spain, 1Q01- 1Q07
• Figure 3: 3G connections in Italy, the UK, Germany, Spain and France, 3Q07
• Figure 4: Postpaid and prepaid connections in Spain, 1Q00- 1Q07
• Figure 5: Spanish MNO positioning in 3Q07
• Figure 6: WCDMA net additions for Spanish MNOs, 3Q05- 3Q07
• Figure 7: Mobile data revenues as a percentage of service revenues for Spanish operators, 1Q04- 2Q07