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Market Research Briefs - Telecommunications Services/ Equipment

 

CELLULAR TELEPHONY

FRANCE CURRENTLY OFFERS SOME EXCITING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN THE AREA OF CELLULAR TELEPHONY. LIBERALIZED SINCE 1987, THE MARKET FOR TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES MARKET HAS GROWN MORE RAPIDLY IN FRANCE THAN IN ANY OTHER NATION. IN SEPTEMBER 2001, THE SUBSTANTIAL PRESENCE OF MOBILE PHONES ON THE FRENCH MARKET WAS MANIFESTED BY THE FACT THAT 36 MILLION FRENCH WERE SUBSCRIBERS TO MOBILE SERVICE, WHILE ONLY 35 MILLION POSSESSED A LANDLINE SUBSCRIPTION. INDUSTRY SOURCES PREDICT FURTHER INCREASES IN THIS 62 PERCENT PENETRATION RATE, EXPECTING A BOOST TO THE MARKET FROM THE DEVELOPMENT OF 3G TECHNOLOGY, THE ADOPTION OF BETTER WIRELESS INTERNET SERVICE, AND THE GROWTH OF MOBILE COMMERCE (M-COMMERCE).
ORANGE, THE WIRELESS SUBSIDIARY OF FRANCE'S INCUMBENT OPERATOR, FRANCE TELECOM, CURRENTLY CONTROLS 50 PERCENT OF THE MARKET. AS THE MARKET NEARS ITS SATURATION POINT, OPERATORS SHOULD BEGIN TO SHIFT THEIR FOCUSES IN TERMS OF CUSTOMER SERVICE, THAT IS, RATHER THAN IMPLEMENTING STRATEGIES AIMED AT ATTRACTING CONSUMERS, OPERATORS WILL OFFER SERVICES GEARED TOWARDS THE MAINTENANCE OF BUSINESS WITH THEIR STRONGEST CUSTOMERS. IN ADDITION, TELECOMMUNICATIONS OPERATORS ARE CURRENTLY SEEKING TO DEVELOP NEW REVENUE SOURCES, SINCE THE AVERAGE REVENUE PER USER CONTINUES TO DECLINE AND DEBT MOUNTS AS A RESULT OF INVESTMENT IN 3G LICENSES.
THE ARRIVAL OF UMTS (UNIVERSAL MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEMS) REPRESENTS ONE OF THE MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS IN THE FRENCH MOBILE MARKET. UMTS, THE THIRD GENERATION (3G) OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, WOULD PROVIDE USERS WITH A 2 MB/SEC CONNECTION TO THE HIGH-SPEED INTERNET AMONG OTHER CAPABILITIES. WITHIN THE NEXT 10 YEARS, ANALYSTS FORECAST A GLOBAL MARKET FOR 3G TECHNOLOGY CONSISTING OF MORE THAN 2 BILLION SUBSCRIBERS AND WORTH OVER USD 1 TRILLION. CURRENTLY, THE FRENCH TELECOMMUNICATIONS REGULATION AUTHORITY (ART) HAS AWARDED 3G LICENSES TO CEGETEL'S SFR AND FT'S ORANGE. BOUYGUES TELECOM, FRANCE'S THIRD LARGEST MOBILE OPERATOR, HAS PARTNERED WITH THE JAPANESE FIRM NTT DOCOMO AND PLACED A BID FOR THE THIRD OF FOUR AVAILABLE CONTRACTS. WHILE THE WIDE-SCALE AVAILABILITY OF UMTS REMAINS A FEW YEARS OFF AND THE INITIAL RELEASE DATE HAS ALREADY PASSED, ART BELIEVES THAT THIS THIRD GENERATION TECHNOLOGY HAS BEEN DEVELOPING ON SCHEDULE IN FRANCE.
MOBILE COMMERCE (M-COMMERCE) REPRESENTS ANOTHER AREA OF EXPECTED GROWTH ON THE FRENCH TELECOM MARKET. EXPERTS BELIEVE THAT THE M-COMMERCE REVOLUTION IN FRANCE WILL INVOLVE NOT SIMPLY THE MOBILIZATION OF EXISTING APPLICATIONS, BUT ALSO HUGE PROGRESS IN TERMS OF PRODUCTIVITY GAINS AS WELL AS THE ENHANCEMENT OF RELATIONSHIPS AND TRANSACTIONS BOTH INTERNALLY AND EXTERNALLY. GLOBALLY, BY 2005, THE NUMBER OF WIRELESS INTERNET DEVICES WILL REACH 1.5 BILLION, WITH PURCHASES FROM THESE DEVICES TOTALING USD 110 BILLION. AS ADVANCES SUCH AS UMTS INCREASE THE CAPABILITIES OF MOBILE PHONES, FRENCH CONSUMERS WILL RELY ON THEIR CELLULAR PHONES FOR MORE FUNCTIONS THAN EVER BEFORE.
AUTHOR: MYRLINE MIKAL

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