IHS Global Insight Perspective | |
Significance | Spanish regulator CMT has reported that the country's mobile market comprised a total of 52.528 million subscriptions at the end of February, representing an annual increase of 2.6% and a penetration rate of 112.3%. |
Implications | Although the total number of accesses is still increasing, the growth rate is being impacted by the law which requires the providers to identify and register their prepaid customers, with Telefónica having been the first one to clean up its client base accordingly. |
Outlook | In Telefónica's case, the clean-up concerned 715,000 prepaid SIM cards. The full impact of the law will be seen in the next couple of months, as the other carriers finish their own efforts. |
According to a market data update from Spain's telecoms regulator CMT, as of end-February 2010 there were 52.528 million mobile lines in the country, up 2.6% year-on-year (y/y) and representing a penetration rate of 112.3 per 100 inhabitants, against 110.9% a year earlier.
Of the lines, 32.202 (up 5.2% y/y) were price plans and 20.325 (down 1.2% y/y) prepaid subscriptions; in addition, there were also 1.926 million machine-to-machine (M2M) mobile lines, 27.7% more than a year earlier. In February only, there were 394,750 mobile numbers ported, 11.9% more than in February 2009.
In terms of net additions, in February the operators reported a net loss of 282,703 lines, reflecting a monthly decrease of 414,706 prepaid subscriptions. Meanwhile, the number of price plans increased by 132,003 lines.
Spanish Mobile Market, February 2010 | ||
Share of net additions (%) | Market share of subscribers (%) | |
Telefónica | 23.90 | 43.50 |
Vodafone | 20.74 | 30.55 |
Orange | 13.94 | 20.25 |
Yoigo | 41.24 | 2.81 |
MVNOs | 0.00 | 2.90 |
Figures exclude the net loss attributed to Telefónica's prepaid registration/deactivation process. | ||
Outlook and Implications
- Prepaid Registration Starts Affecting Subscription Figures: Significantly, the CMT's data show that the law, which requires the operators to identify and register their prepaid subscribers, is starting to have an impact on the country's penetration rate. Telefónica has been the first provider to clean up its client base of unregistered users, with the result having been a one-off net loss of 715,000 prepaid accesses in December 2009. Of the others, Orange had taken the same action in March this year, reporting that its prepaid clientele was reduced by 416,000, and this—as well as the similar moves by the other carriers—should show in the CMT's next market updates. As a result, although Spain's penetration rate is still in notable increase against the year earlier, the trend is set to flatten as all of the operators have completed the clean-up of their customer basis.