31 July
2007

















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     all change?

The latest TeleGeography bulletin reports research from Vodafone claiming that 33% of small businesses in the Republic of Ireland use wireless to access the net.

That compares with 20% of small businesses using narrowband dial-up services as their primary internet access connection.

Vodafone claims that those using wireless for their main connection were adopting a range of solutions, including fixed wireless access (FWA), Wi-Fi, satellite and 3G mobile broadband rather than relying on traditional fixed line technologies.

Vodafone's data concludes that 7% of larger SMEs no longer use a fixed line connection.

     divides

A perspective is provided in news from Morocco, where the national telco regulator ANRT reports that fixed line customers grew by 20.48% in the second quarter of 2007 to 1.94 million. Morocco's literacy rate (around 50%) apparently remains the same.

Increased teledensity is attributed to recent introduction of limited mobility wireless in the local loop (WiLL) services. Fixed telephony penetration reportedly grew to 6.36% from 5.39% over the same period, after a 27.24% rise in subscribers during the first quarter of the year to reach 1.61 million.

The number of Moroccan internet subscribers grew by 10% in the second quarter of 2007 to 476,909, up from from 433,399 at the end of March 2007 and 341,859 mid-2006. ADSL services accounted for 444,633 of those customers.

TeleGeography notes that the fixed line monopoly of incumbent Maroc Télécom (a Vivendi subsidiary) ended in May 2006 with launch of fixed-wireless services by mobile sector rival Médi Télécom (Meditel), supported by Spain's Telefónica and Portugal Telecom. Competitor Wana (formerly ISP Maroc Connect) launched residential fixed and limited mobility services in January 2007 and CDMA-based fixed-wireless internet access two months later.

Meditel is apparently planning to launch a WiMAX fixed-wireless service but is initially concentrating on its cellular HSDPA service for laptop users.

It is unclear whether changes to subscriber numbers will be closely reflected in improvements in uptake of personal computers in Morocco or number of internet hosts per capita, measures where the nation lags far behind Lebanon and some other states in North Africa and the Middle East.

Telefonica has meanwhile announced that its 2Q profit more than doubled. Net income rose to €2.57 billion in the three months ended 30 June 2007 from €1.14 billion in the same period of 2006.

Russell Southwood at Balancing Act reports that Maroc Telecom earlier this year announced it would spend US$79 million buying Gabon Telecom from the government of Gabon

Without waiting, we are going to implement a restructuring and development plan that will help this operator to become a jewel of the Gabonese economy and a model for the region, able to offer the best services at the best prices to the population and to companies of this country

The acquisition has become mired in the usual parochialism (eg claims that privatisation made Gabon a province of Morocco) and increasing disbelief about figures. Maroc Telecom claimed it had acquired a telco with 30,000 fixed line subscribers and 250,000 mobile subscribers (some 30% of the Gabonese market), with Gabon Telecom and mobile subsidiary Libertis generating €137 million in revenues. The Commissaires aux Comptes, Gabon's equivalent of ANAO, contests the figures provided by the government to Maroc Telecom, claiming that the fixed line operator lost US$112m and Libertis lost US$10m on a claimed turnover of US$189m. Southwood notes that "is quite an achievement even when judged against the standards of incompetence set by the worst of Africa's incumbents".

The national auditor revealed that Gabon Telecom had 22,900 subscribers (rather than the claimed 30,000) and that "customers have been billed for services that have not been provided or only provided at a much lower level than promised". Soaring debt has resulted in one of the hidden digital divides in Africa: Gabon Telecom is no longer able to terminate calls to Senegal because it has not paid its bills from Sonatel.

     Canada

The Canadian Radio-television & Telecommunications Commission annual report on broadcasting notes that 70% of Canadian households subscribe to the net (a 6% increase on 2005), with 60% of households having a high-speed connection (up from 51% in 2006). An estimated 22% of Canadians listened to radio over the net in 2006; 6% watched television. 58% used a mobile phone to access online content, 14% an MP3 player, 7% an iPod, 5% a PDA and 4% a BlackBerry.

Online advertising revenue in Canada was estimated at C$1 billion in 2006, up from C$562 million in the preceding year.

The CRTC reports that Canadians watched 27.6 hours of television per week in 2006 (down from 28.1 hours in 2005) and listened to 18.6 hours of radio per week (down from 19.1 hours in 2005).

Revenue at radio stations was around C$1.4 billion, up by C$76 million from 2005. Free to air broadcast television stations earned C$2.6 billion in revenue in 2006, up from C$2.5 billion in 2005. Subscription pay tv, pay-per-view and VOD revenues was C$2.5 billion, up C$300 million on 2005.

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