The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012

Transcription

1 Report Number PTS-ER 2013:15 Date 13 June 2013 The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012

2 The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012 Report Number PTS-ER 2013:15 Document Number ISSN Authors Bianca Gustafsson Kojo, Karin Fransén, Oscar Holmström The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) Box 5398 SE Stockholm Sweden +46 (0) The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 2

3 Foreword The market data that the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) collects for the Swedish telecommunications market is one of our tools for tracking the rapid developments within electronic communications. Things seem undramatic when looking at the total numbers for 2012 end user revenues, as the numbers in principle are unchanged compared with the previous year. But the distribution and development of end user revenues hide a number of interesting aspects. We see, for example, that revenues for fixed services, primarily fixed telephony, continue to decrease relatively drastically, while the revenues for mobile services are increasing. The increasing mobile revenues, however, have not been able to fully compensate for the loss of revenue on the fixed side. I have, on several occasions, said that there is a need for operators to review their business models to reduce their dependence on minute-based revenues from voice traffic in favour of revenues from data traffic. A natural conclusion is that the pressure on prices, and the difficulty of getting paid for mobile data, leads to future problems for the operators expansion and investments. It is therefore a pleasure to learn of the investment plans from several operators who have recently spoken about major efforts for expanding their networks. In addition, we have strong competition between mobile operators, and several price wars have led to lower costs or more communications for the money for us as consumers. Competition thus yields positive effects. I would also like to take the opportunity to call attention to the Nordic comparisons that are now in this report. It s interesting to follow how Sweden measures itself against our Nordic neighbours. Our traditional strengths high usage of mobile broadband and fast fixed broadband are confirmed in this report. Göran Marby Director General, Swedish Post and Telecom Authority The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 3

4 Contents Foreword 3 Abstract 7 Sammanfattning 8 1 Aim and method Structure and implementation Collection of data on roaming Discrepancies and updates to data Historical information and market shares Definitions Types of Internet connections The terms private customer and business customer 14 2 Market development: Subscriptions Fixed call services Mobile call and data services Number portability Internet services Fixed Internet connection Mobile broadband subscriptions Transmission capacity for broadband subscriptions Data communications for the end user Television services Television via broadband Television services subscriptions by form of housing Bundling 33 3 Usage - Traffic Call traffic Message services SMS MMS Mobile data traffic Traffic during international roaming 40 4 Revenues in the market Revenues from fixed call services Revenues from mobile call and data services Interconnection in fixed and mobile networks Revenues from telematics and roaming Revenues from international roaming Revenues from Internet services Revenues from data communications services Revenues from television services 49 5 Market shares Market shares for fixed call services Market shares for mobile call and data services Market shares for broadband subscriptions Fixed broadband Mobile broadband Market shares television services Analogue and digital television services Digital television services 56 The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 4

5 Figures Figure 1 Number of fixed call services subscriptions Figure 2 Number of mobile call and data services subscriptions Figure 3 Number of portings of fixed and mobile telephone numbers Figure 4 Number of broadband and Internet service subscriptions Figure 5 Development of fixed Internet services subscriptions Figure 6 Transmission rate for fixed broadband subscriptions downloading of data Figure 7 Transmission rate for mobile broadband subscriptions downloading of data Figure 8 Transmission rate for fixed broadband subscriptions uploading of data Figure 9 Share of fibre in fixed broadband in the Nordic region Figure 10 Development of mobile broadband in the Nordic region Figure 11 Number of television services subscriptions per method of distribution Figure 12 Development of shares per distribution platform Figure 13 Number of television subscriptions via broadband Figure 14 Television subscriptions by type of residence Figure 15 Development of bundled subscriptions Figure 16 Outgoing call minutes from fixed and mobile Figure 17 Development of number of sent SMS, in total and per subscription and month 38 Figure 18 Amount of data transmitted on mobile networks Figure 19 Development of mobile data traffic per subscription and month in the Nordic region Figure 20 Call traffic and SMS during international roaming Figure 21 Revenues, end user market for electronic communications Figure 22 Revenues from end users of fixed call services Figure 23 Revenues from mobile call and data services Figure 24 Revenues from the end user market for fixed Internet services and mobile data The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 5

6 Figure 25 Revenues from the end user market for data communications services Figure 26 Revenues from television services Figure 27 Market share fixed call services subscriptions Figure 28 Number of mobile call and data services subscriptions Figure 29 Market share total broadband subscriptions Figure 30 Market shares fixed broadband subscriptions Figure 31 Market shares Mobile broadband subscriptions Figure 32 Market shares television service subscriptions Figure 33 Market shares digital television service subscriptions The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 6

7 Abstract In 2012, the total revenue of the electronic communications retail market amounted to SEK 52 billion. Compared to 2011, this is a small decrease, which is mainly due to the revenue from fixed-line telephony services decreasing by 11 per cent. The revenue from mobile telephony and data services continues to increase overall, but not as fast as in previous years. The revenue from mobile data increased by 21 per cent in 2012, amounting to SEK 7 billion, while the revenue from mobile telephony services decreased somewhat. The number of subscribers who have used services on the 4G network (LTE) was, at the end of 2012, approximately 240,000, which is an increase of 210,000 subscribers, compared to the previous year. Mobile networks were used to send and receive 176,000 terabytes of data in 2012, which is an increase of 75 per cent, compared to The number of text messages (SMS) decreased by approx. 6 per cent in 2012, while the number of multimedia messages (MMS) increased by 15 per cent. The number of outgoing call minutes from the mobile network increased by 5 per cent in 2012 and amounted to 24 billion minutes. At the same time, outgoing traffic minutes from the fixed-line network decreased by 14 per cent in 2012, meaning that the number of outgoing traffic minutes decreased by a total of 3 per cent. The number of fibre-optic broadband subscriptions increased by 16 per cent, or by 143,000 subscriptions, in 2012, and, at the end of the year, there were over a million such subscriptions. The number of subscriptions to both xdsl broadband and cable TV decreased in Despite this, the total number of fixed broadband subscriptions increased by 1 per cent. The demand for high speeds continues to increase, and the number of subscriptions to broadband services with data transfer rates of 100 Mbit/s or higher was 756,000 at the end of This corresponds to a quarter of all fixed-line broadband subscriptions. PTS has, for the first time, asked for data regarding subscriptions with a data transfer rate of over 1 Gbit/s, and, at the end of 2012, there were approx. 1,000 of these. TV subscriptions via fibre and fibre LAN were the distribution channels for traditional TV services that continued to increase the most. The number of TV subscriptions via fibre and fibre LAN increased by 103,000, or 41 per cent, thus amounting to 354,000 on the final day of December At the PTS statistics portal ( these statistics are published in table form, and data is also available for the individual operators. The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 7

8 Sammanfattning Under 2012 blev de totala intäkterna på slutkundsmarknaden för elektronisk kommunikation sammanlagt 53 miljarder kronor. Jämfört med 2011 är detta en liten minskning, som främst beror på intäkterna från fasta samtalstjänster som har minskat med 12 procent. Intäkter från mobila samtals - och datatjänster fortsätter att öka totalt sett, men inte lika mycket som tidigare år. Intäkterna från mobil data ökade med 21 procent under 2012 och blev 7 miljarder kronor, medan intäkterna från mobila samtalstjänster minskade något. Antalet abonnemang som har använt tjänster i 4G nätet (LTE) var i slutet av 2012 ca vilket är en ökning med abonnemang från året innan. Det skickades och togs emot Terabyte data i mobilnäten under 2012, vilket är en ökning med 75 procent jämfört med Antalet sms minskade med ca 6 procent under 2012, medan antalet mms ökade med 25 procent. Antalet utgående samtalsminuter från det mobila nätet ökade med 5 procent under 2012 och blev 24 miljarder minuter. Samtidigt minskade antalet utgående trafikminuter från det fasta nätet under 2012 med 14 procent, vilket gjorde att antalet utgående trafikminuter minskade totalt sett med 3 procent. Antalet abonnemang på bredband via fiber ökade med 16 procent, eller abonnemang, under 2012 och var över en miljon i slutet av året. Antalet abonnemang på både bredband via xdsl och kabel-tv minskade under Trots detta ökade antalet abonnemang på fast bredbandsanslutning totalt sett med 1 procent. Efterfrågan på höga hastigheter fortsätter att öka och antalet abonnemang på bredband med överföringshastighet på 100 Mbit/s eller mer var i slutet av Det motsvarar en fjärdel av alla abonnemang på fast bredband. För första gången har PTS frågat efter abonnemang med en överföringshastighet på över 1 Gbit/s och dessa var i slutet av 2012 ca stycken. Antal abonnemang på tv via fiber och fiber LAN är det distributionssätt för traditionella tv-tjänster som fortsatte öka mest. Antalet abonnemang på tv via fiber och fiber-lan ökade med abonnemang, eller 41 procent, till den sista december På PTS statistikportal ( finns statistiken publicerad i tabeller, där även de enskilda aktörernas data är tillgänglig. The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 8

9 Full year, 2012: Table 1 Key data - the electronic communications market Electronic communications Change Total end user revenues (SEKm) 52,588 52,891-1% Monthly revenue from an average household (SEK, excl. VAT) % Fixed call services Number of fixed telephone subscriptions (thousands) 4,169 4,482-7% of which subscriptions via IP-based telephony 1,437 1,316 9% Number of outgoing traffic minutes (millions) 15,389 17,846-14% Private 8,571 10,387-17% Business 6,818 7,459-9% Revenues from fixed call services (SEKm) 11,517 13,017-12% Private 6,741 7,873-14% Business 4,776 5,145-7% Mobile call and data services Number of mobile subscriptions (thousands) 13,946 13,395 4% Private 10,762 10,344 4% Business 3,183 3,051 4% of which active UTMS/CDMA 2000 subscriptions 10,024 9,364 7% of which subscriptions that have used 4G (LTE) % of which subscriptions that successfully use 4G (LTE) of which mobile broadband as a stand-alone service 2,097 1,941 8% of which mobile broadband as an add-on service 4,906 3,267 50% Number of outgoing traffic minutes (millions) 24,245 23,194 5% Number of SMS sent (millions)[1] 16,514 18,543-11% Number of MMS sent (millions) % Traffic for mobile data services (Tbyte) 176, ,806 75% The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 9

10 Full year, 2012: Table 1 Key data - the electronic communications market Revenues from mobile subscriptions, SMS, MMS, and mobile data traffic (SEKm) 27,590 26,503 4% Private 17,823 17,341 3% Business 9,767 9,162 7% Telematics subscriptions 3,952 3,024 31% Data communications services Revenues from data communications services for end users (SEKm) 4,849 4,836 0% Internet services Internet subscriptions (thousands) 10,182 8,451 20% Dial-up subscriptions % Fixed broadband subscriptions 3,070 3,025 1% via cable television % via fibre and fibre LAN 1, % via xdsl 1,437 1,515-5% Mobile broadband subscriptions 7,004 5,207 34% via mobile broadband as a stand-alone service 2,097 1,941 8% via mobile broadband as an add-on service 4,906 3,267 50% Revenues from fixed Internet subscriptions (SEKm) 8,637 8,545 1% Private 6,872 6,905 0% Business 1,765 1,640 8% Television services Number of TV subscriptions per distribution platform (thousands) 4,561 4,411 3% via cable television 2,414 2,356 2% via terrestrial network % via satellite % via IPTV % via fibre and fibre LAN % via xdsl % via SMATV % Bundling Number of bundled subscriptions (thousands) 1,724 1,593 8% [1] Since Tele2 has changed reporting systems since 2011, the numbers are not completely comparable. If Tele2 is excluded, a decrease of approximately 6% remains. The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 10

11 The Swedish Telecommunications Market Aim and method The aim of the Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012 report is to survey the development of a large part of the Swedish end user market for electronic communications. PTS, the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority, has been tasked both with tracking developments on the electronic communications market and promoting competition on that same market. As a part of this task, PTS works with collecting market data and with market analyses. Apart from the internal needs of PTS for market data, it is also important that the general public, operators and other businesses and organisations have access to the statistics which constitutes another incentive for PTS to publish market statistics. The Swedish Telecommunications Market report should primarily be regarded as a PTS report on statistics for the electronic communications market, and the focus thus lies on reporting statistics that describe the market. For the most part, the 2012 statistics were collected using a web-based survey. Information on roaming has been collected via an Excel form. Data on number porting is based on information acquired from SNPAC Structure and implementation The data collection that forms the foundation for The Swedish Telecommunications Market is covered by the obligation to reply, and has been so since The collection for 2012 was distributed via a web-based questionnaire to a total of 517 telecommunications companies in January The data was collected from January to March 2013, and the initial dispatch was followed up with reminders via and post. A few businesses that did not respond were reminded via telephone. At the beginning of April, responses had come in from 463 companies, resulting in a response rate of 90%. Operator data continues to be collected and adjusted even after the Swedish Telecommunications Market report has been published, however, which means that the PTS operator statistics database 2 is continually updated. The telecommunications companies that took part indicated the areas in which they conducted operations during 2012 on the questionnaire. The number of companies that conducted operations within the different areas is shown in the 1 Swedish Number Portability Center: 2 The PTS database is available at the PTS statistics portal statistik.pts.se The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 11

12 The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012 statement below. Note that a telecommunications company can operate in several areas. Areas 2012 Fixed call services 106 Interconnection in fixed networks 36 Mobile call and data services, and mobile broadband 55 Interconnection in mobile networks 17 Internet subscriptions 161 Television services 70 Bundled subscriptions 31 Data communications services - wholesale 188 Data communications services - end user 164 Broadband access - to operators and end users 177 Total number consulted 517 For a complete list of which operators have responded within which areas, see the attached list of participants Collection of data on roaming PTS has been commissioned by BEREC to collect data on international roaming twice a year. Data from this collection is used as the basis for this report. The collection of roaming information for 2012 was distributed via and Excel forms that had a uniform design for all the EU countries. It was sent out to four telecommunications companies 3 in January 2013, and the responses came in via post during March. 1.2 Discrepancies and updates to data Measurement errors arise for different reasons during the data collection process, which is due to a number of sources such as: Those consulted did not answer all the questions on the survey Not all operators on the market responded to the survey 3 The participating companies are TeliaSoneraAB, Tele2 Sverige AB, Telenor Sverige AB and Hi3G Access AB The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 12

13 The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012 The responses were misleading due to the fact that it was not possible to produce an exact value from the company s accounting, the instructions were misunderstood or inadequate, or incorrect information was submitted The measurement errors are not regarded as being significant and can often be compensated by starting from previously collected data or by estimating based on related questions on the survey. As the information reported in percent figures has been rounded off, the sum of the parts is not always 100%. The historical statistics are revised as PTS obtains corrections and further information. For that reason, the statistics for one and the same year can differ between annual editions of the report. The latest updated database is available on the PTS web-based statistics portal ( For a more detailed description of measurement errors and loss, see the attached declaration of quality, Appendix Historical information and market shares The development of the market is reported using statistics that, in some cases, reach back to Beginning in 2006, PTS has also published market shares for variables at the end user level for every collection period. Market shares for a number of different variables are included in the report, but significantly more information is published on the web-based statistics portal. The variables judged to be inadequate or which are misleading in another way are not published on the statistics portal. 1.4 Definitions Definitions that form the basis for the reports are used on the questionnaire, and these definitions are continually revised so that they are in sync with developments on the market. The segmentation of the individual sub-markets can also change from year to year. Since 2003, PTS has also considered the need for information in order to conduct market analyses and to decide whether any operator has significant market influence. Despite these changes, it is still possible to compare the information with previous reports to a great extent Types of Internet connections As regards the sub-market for Internet connections, mixing up expressions such as fixed connection, broadband connection, wireless connection, The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 13

14 The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012 mobile connection, broadband, and so on is common as there are no common definitions. On the Swedish telecommunications market, the terms are defined according to the list below. Dial-up connection Fixed connection Mobile connection Wireless connection Wired connection Broadband connection Mobile broadband Mobile broadband as a stand-alone service Mobile broadband as an add-on service PSTN, ISDN PSTN, ISDN, fixed radio, satellite, xdsl, cable television, fibre, fibre LAN, LTE, HSPA, CDMA 2000, UMTS, EDGE fixed radio, satellite, LTE, HSPA, CDMA 2000, UMTS, EDGE PSTN, ISDN, xdsl, cable television, fibre, fibre LAN fixed radio, satellite, xdsl, cable television, fibre, fibre LAN, LTE, HSPA, CDMA 2000 In this report, mobile broadband refers to subscriptions to mobile packet data when it is purchased both as a standalone service and as an add-on service Subscriptions primarily used for mobile packet data, and where data access was used at least once during the latest quarter of the period, or where subscription fees were paid during the latest quarter of the period. The subscription must not have generated any voice traffic minutes during the latest quarter of the period. Refers to bundling products where the subscriber purchases at least 1 GB of data traffic per month, either as an add-on service or included in the subscription. In practice, this means smart phones used for both calls and mobile broadband The terms private customer and business customer In a number of cases, the statistics reported are divided between private and business customers respectively. The definitions of private and business customers are based on who pays for the services, not who the user is. The criterion for the party paying being designated a business customer (including organisations that are not businesses) is that it has a corporate tax ID number. The remainder are designated as private customers. This means, however, that businesses and organisations registered under a personal ID number are counted under the category of private customer. The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 14

15 Thousands The Swedish Telecommunications Market Market development: Subscriptions 2.1 Fixed call services In December 2012 there were 4.2 million fixed telephony subscriptions, which can be compared with December 2011, when there were 4.5 million fixed subscriptions; this corresponds to a decrease of 7%. Figure 1 Number of fixed call services subscriptions PSTN WLR ISDN IP telephony Of the fixed subscriptions approximately 3.2 million were private, which if they are related to the 4.7 million households in Sweden 4 means that around 68% of Sweden s households have a fixed subscription. For the same period in the previous year, 74% of households (with the corresponding estimate) had a fixed subscription. 4 SCB: The number of housekeeping units as of 31 December 2011: 4,656,000 The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 15

16 The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012 As with previous years, the number of PSTN 5 and ISDN 6 subscriptions decreased, while the number of IP subscriptions increased. Subscriptions for IP-based telephony comprised approximately 35% of all fixed telephony subscriptions at the end of There were 1,437,000 IP subscriptions as of December 31, 2012, which is an increase of 9% or 121,000 subscriptions compared with one year earlier. The increase took place through the xdsl and fibre LAN access technologies. Subscriptions via xdsl comprised 37% of all subscriptions to IP-based telephony, and subscriptions via fibre LAN 26%. The number of subscriptions via WLR 7 continued to decrease during 2012 as well. In December 2012, there were 658,000 subscriptions via WLR compared with 786,000 in December This is a decrease of 16%, or 128,000 subscriptions. There were 133,000 active pre-selection customers at the end of 2012, compared with 41,000 since the end of Apart from traditional, fixed-line telephony, operators offer VoIP (Voice over IP, also called broadband telephony) as a service. This is done through connection to the IP network the operator itself controls, as opposed to what we call the Internet. This kind of IP telephony has service and quality corresponding to the traditional circuit-based technology. SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) is used to establish, modify, and terminate IP telephony calls. It s common for businesses and government agencies, which use IP telephony on their internal networks, to connect their local IP-based subscriber switchboard to the traditional, circuit-based telephone network (PSTN) via a local gateway, which is located at the customer. This requires two different connections: apart from the ordinary, IP-based external connection to the Internet, a special external service built on ISDN is required. Today, a greater number of service providers offer a modern alternative to this, where the same external IP-based connection is used for both data and voice via what is called 5 Stands for Public Switched Telephone Network that is, the traditional public telecommunications network connected by circuits 6 Stands for Integrated Services Digital Network and is a standard for digital telephony. Involved an upgrade of the traditional copper network that provided two channels per subscriber line. 7 WLR is an abbreviation for Wholesale Line Rental. It means that the subscriber can pay both subscription fees and call charges to another operator than Telia. Before WLR was introduced in 2004, many subscribers paid a subscription fee to Telia and a traffic bill to another telecommunications company ( pre-selection telephony ). The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 16

17 Thousands The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012 a SIP trunk and where PSTN is reached via a central gateway located at the operator. For businesses, this means they no longer need either a local PSTN gateway or ISDN connections. At the end of 2012 there were 10,000 subscriptions via SIP trunks, which is double the number from the same point in time one year earlier, when there were 5,000. There were also 109,000 SIP addresses that is, active user accounts used for telephony at the end of Mobile call and data services The number of subscriptions and traffic from mobile services continued to grow during On December 31, there were a total of 13.9 million mobile subscriptions in Sweden, which is one-half million more than on December 31, 2011, when there were 13.4 million. Figure 2 Number of mobile call and data services subscriptions Calls only Calls and data (no add-on) Calls and mobile broadband, add-on Mobile broadband, stand-alone Mobile broadband services totalled 7.0 million on December 31, 2012, which is an increase of 1.8 million, or 34%, since December 31, Mobile broadband as an add-on service represents the greatest increase. These totalled The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 17

18 The Swedish Telecommunications Market million on December 31, 2012, which is an increase of 1.6 million, or 50%, since December 31, Subscriptions to mobile broadband as a stand-alone service totalled 2.1 million on December 31, 2012 and had increased by 157,000 subscriptions, or 8%, compared with the same period the previous year. The number of mobile subscriptions that had used services on the 4G (LTE) network on December 31, 2012 was 239,000, which is an increase of 201,000, or 706%, since December 31, This year s survey also asked how many mobile subscriptions succeeded in using services on the 4G (LTE) network, and these totalled 994,000 on December 31, The number of telematics subscriptions was 3,952,000 on December 31, 2012, which is an increase of 928,000, or 31%, since December 31, Number portability SNPAC 9 collects and publishes statistics on the number of portings in Sweden. The following section is based on data from SNPAC. 6.9 million numbers have been ported in Sweden since 2002, and of these almost 1.9 million numbers were fixed telephony and over 5 million were for mobile telephony. 8 Users needed both a SIM card and a terminal that could handle LTE in order to be able to use the LTE network. Beyond this, a subscription was needed to gain access to the network. In 2012, PTS asked operators to indicate how many subscriptions succeeded in using the LTE network. 9 Swedish Number Portability Administration Center: The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 18

19 Thousands The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012 Figure 3 Number of portings of fixed and mobile telephone numbers Mobile Fixed 254,000 fixed numbers and 544,000 mobile numbers were ported in Sweden during Compared with 2011, this is an increase of 9% and 8%, respectively. Ported fixed numbers constituted 6.1% of the total number of subscriptions to fast telephony in During the same period, ported mobile numbers constituted 4.6% of the total number of mobile subscriptions (excluding mobile broadband as a stand-alone service and telematics). In just over 10 years, since 2002, the number of fixed ported numbers has gone from 3% to 32% of the total number of ported numbers. The share of mobile ported numbers went from 97% to 68% over the same period of time. The breakdown has been relatively stable over the last seven years. 2.4 Internet services At the end of 2012, the total number of subscriptions for Internet service was 10.2 million. This is an increase of 1.7 million, or 20%, since the end of 2011, when it was 8.5 million. The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 19

20 Thousands The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012 Figure 4 Number of broadband and Internet service subscriptions xdsl Fibre LAN Mobile broadband, stand-alone Dial-up connection Cable television Other Mobile broadband, add-on The number of subscriptions for dial-up internet decreased, which it has done continually since 2001; on December 31, 2012 there were 108,000, which is a decrease of 51% since December Subscriptions for dial-up Internet constitute 1% of the total number of subscriptions for Internet services. Of the 10.2 million subscriptions for Internet services, 10.1 million were subscriptions for broadband. The difference is made up by dial-up Internet, which is not included here in the definition for broadband Fixed Internet connection The number of subscriptions for fixed broadband was 3.1 million on December 31, 2012, which was 35,000 more subscriptions than the same time one year earlier. 10 For the definition of broadband, see Section 1.4 The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 20

21 Thousands The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012 The number of subscriptions for broadband via fibre and fibre LAN was 1,034,000 on December 31, 2013, and it represents the entire increase of subscriptions in fixed broadband. This means an increase of 133,000 subscriptions compared with the year before, corresponding to an increase of 16%. The number of subscriptions to xdsl has decreased continually since its peak in 2008; on December 31, 2012 it totalled 1,440,000. This is a decrease of 78,000 subscriptions since December 2011, corresponding to a decrease of 5%. The number of subscriptions for broadband via cable television as of December 31, 2012 was 585,000, which is 19,000 fewer than the same time the previous year. Figure 5 Development of fixed Internet services subscriptions Cable TV Fibre and fibre LAN Other broadband access xdsl Dial-up Up until 2008, xdsl subscriptions represented a large part of the growth of fixed broadband on the Swedish market. Since the first half of 2008, it is fibre and fibre LAN that have instead represented the continued growth of subscriptions for fixed broadband, as clearly shown in the figure above Mobile broadband subscriptions The number of mobile broadband subscriptions totalled 7.0 million at the end of 2012, an increase of 34%, or 1.8 million subscriptions since Out of these subscriptions, 30% were subscriptions for mobile broadband as a stand- The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 21

22 The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012 alone service, and 70% were subscriptions for broadband as an add-on service. Mobile broadband as an add-on service increased 50% to 4.9 million subscriptions, while mobile broadband as a stand-alone service increased by 8% to 2.1 million subscriptions. It is thus mobile broadband as an add-on service that represented the large increase of Internet and broadband subscriptions during Transmission capacity for broadband subscriptions Internet and broadband services are often asymmetrical that is, they do not have the same transmission rate for downloaded data (received data) as for uploaded data (sent data). Operators on the market most often offer higher speed for downloaded data than for uploaded data. Broadband via fibre and cable television networks upgraded to Docsis have the technical possibility of managing transmission capacities downstream of at least 100 Mbit/s. There is, however, a difference between the speed a given technology can successfully handle and the speed a consumer subscribes to through a broadband supplier. For a number of years, The Swedish Telecommunications Market has followed the development of the transmission capacity of broadband subscription for downloaded data on the end user market. Speed refers to the speed subscribed to, and not actually the speed attained. 11 A standard for retrofitting cable television networks for the purpose of facilitating broadband access. The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 22

23 Per cent The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012 Figure 6 Transmission rate for fixed broadband subscriptions downloading of data 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% >= 1000 Mbit/s Mbit/s Mbit/s Mbit/s 2-10 Mbit/s < 2 Mbit/s The number of fixed broadband subscriptions with higher transmission capacity continued to increase during At the end of 2012, there were 755,000 subscriptions with speeds of over 100 Mbit/s, which is an increase of 41%, or 220,000 subscriptions. Of these, just over 1,000 subscriptions had a speed of 1Gbit/s or more. 12 There were 123,000 subscriptions with speeds from 30 to 100 Mbit/s, which is an increase of 58%. There were 1.2 million subscriptions with speeds of 10 to 30 Mbit/s, staying at the same level as the previous year. Subscriptions with speeds of 2 to 10 Mbit/s decreased by 15%. Subscriptions with the lowest speeds over 144 kbit/s and under 2 Mbit/s represented the largest decrease. These subscriptions totalled 81,000, which was a decrease of approximately 40% compared with the previous year, when the total was 134,000. Of the total 1,034,000 fixed broadband subscriptions via fibre, there were 626,000 with a speed of 100 Mbit/s or more at the end of This means that more than 60% of the fibre subscriptions have a download speed of 100 Mbit/s or more. 12 Subscriptions of 1 Gbit/s or more began being measured in The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 23

24 Thousands The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012 Figure 7 Transmission rate for mobile broadband subscriptions downloading of data >= 30 Mbit/s Mbit/s 2-10 Mbit/s < 2 Mbit/s The number of high-speed mobile broadband subscriptions has also increased. The number of subscriptions with speeds of 30 Mbit/s or more as of December 31, 2012 was 1.7 million, an increase of 1.4 million from December 2011, when the total was 340,000. Over the same period, subscriptions for speeds of 10 to 30 Mbit/s increased 190% to 1.7 million. Subscriptions with speeds of 2 to 10 Mbit/s decreased by 12% to 3.1 million. The number of subscriptions with speeds between 144 kbit/s and 2 Mbit/s also decreased, by 42% to approximately 400,000 subscriptions. The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 24

25 Per cent The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012 Figure 8 Transmission rate for fixed broadband subscriptions uploading of data 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% >= 100 Mbit/s and over Mbit/s Mbit/s 2-10 Mbit/s > 144 kbit/s - 2 Mbit/s Fixed broadband subscriptions that have an upload speed of 144 kbit/s to 2 Mbit/s comprised the largest share, 61%, of all fixed broadband subscriptions. The total as of December 31, 2012 was 1.6 million, a decrease of 9% compared with a year earlier. The number of fixed broadband subscriptions with an upload speed of 10 to 30 Mbit/s was 746,000 as of December 31, 2012, comprising a quarter of all fixed broadband subscriptions. These subscriptions increased by 19%. The total number of fixed broadband subscriptions with an upload speed of 30 to 100 Mbit/s was 57,000, which is a slight increase from The share of fixed broadband connections with an upload speed of 100 Mbit/s and up constituted 5% of the total number of fixed broadband subscriptions. The same speed interval (100 Mbit/s and over) for downloading data constituted 24% of the total number of fixed broadband subscriptions. It can be assumed that the large difference in the share of subscriptions for high-speed downloading and uploading, respectively, is due to the operator s business models, which offer different prices for different speeds for uploading and downloading data. The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 25

26 Per cent The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012 Figure 9 Share of fibre in fixed broadband in the Nordic region 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Sweden Norway Denmark Iceland Finland A comparison among the Nordic countries shows that Sweden s share of fibre subscriptions out of the total number of fixed broadband subscriptions is high. At the end of 2012, 34% of fixed broadband subscriptions were fibre, compares with 21% in Norway, 16% in Finland, 12% in Denmark and 20% in Iceland. For Sweden s part, the share increased by 4 percentage points, from 30% at the end of The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 26

27 Subscription per capita The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012 Figure 10 Development of mobile broadband in the Nordic region 0,8 0,7 0,6 0,5 0,4 0,3 0,2 0,1 0, Sweden Norway Denmark Iceland Compared with Norway, Denmark, and Iceland, mobile broadband subscriptions in Sweden are relatively common 13. At the end of 2012 there were 0.73 mobile broadband subscriptions per capita in Sweden compared with 0.37 in Norway, 0.40 in Denmark, and 0.26 in Iceland. For Sweden s part, the share has increased by 35 percentage points since the end of Data communications for the end user 14 The number of connections and ports for data communications for the end user totalled 336,000 in December This is a decrease of approximately 2% since 2011, when the total was 343, ,000 connections were IP- VPN 15, and 211,000 were capacity service for end users. 2.6 Television services Various TV channels (e.g. SVT1, TV3, and Eurosport) were packaged as offers to end users in the form of various subscriptions. A programme broadcasting service delivered by a network operator is required for the content on the channels to reach the end user. TV broadcasts can be both analogue and 13 Comparable statistics for Finland are missing, but there too, the number of mobile broadband subscriptions per capita is high. 14 Data communications services refers to a rented connection used by businesses and which, for example, can link offices or different IP-based systems with each other. 15 IP-VPN refers to the following standards: IP Sec VPN, IP MPLS VPN, IP SSL VPN. The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 27

28 The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012 digital. In Sweden today, there are the following primary methods of distribution for broadcast of traditional television services: terrestrial network, cable television networks, satellite and IP television via broadband (using fibre, fibre LAN or xdsl access technologies). This section describes the development of the number of subscriptions on the respective distribution platforms 16. As of December 31, 2012, the total number of television services subscriptions was 5.3 million, which is an increase of 100,000 subscriptions compared with the same period of time one year earlier. The total number of subscriptions for television services is greater than the number of households, since several households can have two or more subscriptions, either on the same distribution platform or on several different distribution platforms. If, instead, subscribers who have two subscriptions on the same distribution platform are counted only once instead, the number of subscriptions for television services is 4.6 million. 17 As of December 31, 2012, there were 2.9 million cable television service subscriptions, which is an increase of 59,000 subscriptions since December The number of subscriptions does not include smaller cable television networks and property owners who reported on themselves and which were previously included in analogue and digital cable television subscriptions. These subscriptions are here reported only under SMATV. SMATV refers to the number of households that purchased subscriptions to smaller networks, as well as property owners and operators, known as SMATV operators. 17 A household with a cable television connection often has a basic analogue subscription via the property owner and can then also have signed up for an individual digital subscription. To count the number of households that use cable television, the number of analogue and digital cable television subscriptions should not be added together. PTS estimates that the number of households that have one or more cable television service subscriptions is approximately 2.4 million, which is at the same level as the previous year. The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 28

29 Thousands The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012 Figure 11 Number of television services subscriptions per method of distribution Analogue cable Digital cable SMATV (cable) DTT Satellite Fibre and fibre LAN xdsl As of December 31, 2012, the number of subscriptions for digital cable television services totalled 1 million, which is a decrease of 29,000 subscriptions, or 3%, compared with the same period of time one year earlier % of digital cable television subscriptions in December 2012 were via indirect agreement with property owners, while the remaining 72% were via direct agreement with the end user. This has remained at the same level since the measurement was introduced in The total number of analogue cable television subscriptions including SMATV 19 was 2.4 million as of December 31, 2012, which has remained relatively unchanged since The number of analogue cable television service subscriptions excluding SMATV was just over 2.1 million as of December 31, This is a slight increase of 2%, or 39,000 subscriptions, compared with the same period of time the previous year. This increase has 18 The large increase in digital cable television subscriptions between 2008 and 2009 is due to changes in the reporting. For the years prior to 2009, digital subscriptions in cable television networks where the operator has a direct billing relationship with households, which in turn have a basic subscription agreement with the property owner, were not included. 19 SMATV here refers to SMATV within an agency operation. The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 29

30 Per cent The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012 not been confirmed, however. There is information indicating that several analogue cable television subscriptions via SMATV operators have been transferred to operators own operations. This transfer could not, however, be captured in the model for estimating SMATV subscriptions. 100% of analogue cable television subscriptions were indirect via agreement with property owners, a breakdown that has remained unchanged since the measurements were introduced in Analogue cable television subscriptions via SMATV networks totalled 272,000 as of December 31, 2012, which is an estimation based on the number of households receiving analogue cable television via SMATV networks. SMATV operators purchase subscriptions and television channels from programming agencies 20 and resell them to the end users. The number of households receiving through SMATV operators remains at the same level compared with the same period in Figure 12 Development of shares per distribution platform 100% 90% 7% 6% 6% 6% 3% 4% 6% 8% 80% 15% 15% 15% 14% 70% 60% 50% 15% 14% 14% 13% 8% 7% 6% 6% 40% 30% 20% 52% 54% 53% 53% 10% 0% Cable SMATV Terrestrial Satellite Fibre and LAN xdsl 20 Programming agencies are Sappa and Canal Digital Sverige AB The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 30

31 Thousands The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012 The share of television service subscriptions via fibre and fibre LAN increased 2% between December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2012, while the share of subscriptions via terrestrial network (excluding free television) and satellite have decreased by 1% each. The share of cable television subscriptions, including SMATV, remained at the same level in 2011 and Television via broadband The number of television subscriptions via broadband IP television continued to increase during 2012 and is now roughly equal to the number of subscriptions via satellite and terrestrial networks respectively. Figure 13 Number of television subscriptions via broadband xdsl Fibre and LAN The number of IP subscriptions totalled 638,000 as of December 31, 2012, which is an increase of 107,000 subscriptions from the same period of time one year earlier. The increase is chiefly due to the increase in the number of television subscriptions via fibre and fibre LAN. The number of television subscriptions via fibre was 354,000 on December 31, 2012, which is an increase of 103,000 subscriptions, or 11%, since December 31, The number of television subscriptions via xdsl totalled 284,000, remaining at the same level as the previous year. The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 31

32 The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012 The number of digital television subscriptions satellite continues to decrease somewhat and totalled 642,000 at the end of December 2012, which is a decrease of 1%, or 6,000 subscriptions, in one year. As of December 31, 2012, there were 594,000 television service subscriptions via the digital terrestrial network, which is a decrease of 13,000 subscriptions from the same period of time a year earlier, when there were 607,000 subscriptions. The households receiving only free television via the digital terrestrial network are not included in the statistics. Since those watching free television do not sign subscription contracts to get free television, it is unclear exactly how many households only receive free television and do not subscribe to television packages. According to a survey commissioned by PTS 21, 7.9% of households have free television as the only method of receiving television in their permanent residence. This corresponds to roughly 368,000 households Television services subscriptions by form of housing The households receiving analogue or digital cable television are found primarily in multiproperty residences (93% and 98% respectively). 21 At the request of PTS, TNS SIFO conducted a survey of household free television use in The number of households with free television only is in line with the information Teracom published in their Interim Statement for January-December 2012, p. 6. The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 32

33 Per cent The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2012 Figure 14 Television subscriptions by type of residence 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Analogue cable Digital cable Fibre xdsl Detached houses Multiproperty residences Unknown The households that have television subscriptions via fibre are also primarily located in multiproperty residences (89%), while households that receive television via xdsl are primarily located in detached houses, row houses, and duplexes (81%) Bundling Bundling refers to offers that contain several services, which are provided and marketed as an offer or with a price list. The most common offers on the market include different combinations of telephony, television, and broadband. 22 Information on form of housing is estimated by the operators, as exact values are lacking. Information on breakdown by form of housing for households with television subscriptions via the terrestrial network and satellite have not been collected as part of The Swedish Telecommunications Market, but according to a survey commissioned by the Swedish Broadcasting Commission ( Rörlig bild ), the most common form of housing for households with television subscriptions via terrestrial network and satellite is the single-family home. The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority 33