|
  
August 26, 2010
This month saw the dark cloud of suspected wrongdoings cast an ugly shadow over the Italian telecom market. A date was set for the trial of 36 subjects alleged to have been involved in what many believe to be Italy’s most damaging case of tax fraud. Although the trial, set to take place at the beginning of November, involves an array of suspects from the wider business and political sphere within Italy and abroad, the case will focus on the alleged malpractice of two of the key players in the Italian telecom market – Sparkle, the wholesale arm of incumbent Telecom Italia, and Fastweb, Italy’s second-largest broadband provider.
This unwanted scrutiny and the potential fallout of this trial could lead one to expect that the Italian telecommunications landscape should prepare itself for a lengthy dark age. However, Pyramid Research’s latest review of the domestic market backdrop in Italy points to the myriad opportunities that will present themselves for operators, vendors and end users in Italy. We expect a cumulative service revenue outlook of €255bn ($314bn) between 2010 and 2015 — a figure that suggests market players will indeed be able to rise from the flames currently engulfing the industry.
Italy: Telecom Sector Poised for Steady Growth Through 2015 analyzes the evolution of the fixed, mobile, regulatory and competitive landscape of Italy to 2015, providing detailed revenue, segment and technology breakdowns of the key market areas, as well as insights into the shifting dynamics of the telecommunications industry. Pyramid Research’s bullish outlook on the Italian telecom space is driven primarily by the opportunities that are likely to unfold as a result of the prospect of a fiber-enabled society. The advent of a virtuous-circle effect, whereby increased network speed and capacity will lead to consumer-led demand for higher data consumption and even faster network speeds, will present an opportunity for all, provided that the selection of network deployed is one that is both future-proof and service provider-agnostic.
End users will continue to benefit from the competitive dynamic of the marketplace, with a trend of lower prices, a greater range of integrated offerings and bigger and better access to content as just some of the gains. However, these end user gains will inevitably lead to balance sheet strain for operators as churn, margin squeeze and capex investment become critical and unavoidable challenges to their business models.
— Julian Morrison, Research Manager
Related resources:
Italy: Telecom Sector Poised for Steady Growth Through 2015
Country Intelligence Report published August 2010
The Italian telecom market generated $46.4bn in service revenue in 2009 and, despite an expected 1.3% drop in overall revenue in 2010, we expect the overall market to grow at a CAGR of 3.1% over the next five years. The fastest-growing segment of the market is mobile data, which we expect to expand from $7.8bn to $15.9bn over the forecast period.
Italy Media Forecast
This forecast is updated quarterly.
Italy Fixed Forecast
This forecast covers the Italian fixed market and is updated quarterly.
Italy Handset Forecast
The Italy forecast handset is updated quarterly and provides an accurate picture of demand for mobile handsets in Italy.
Italy Mobile Forecast
This forecast covers the Italian mobile market and is updated quarterly.
|
Pyramid Points
