Making money from mobile services is not getting any easier as highlighted by recent quarterly results, and two Israeli mobile operators are now stepping up their efforts to launch new revenue streams following cutthroat competition in the local mobile market.
According to a report from Reuters, Israel's two largest mobile operators Cellcom and Partner intend to accelerate plans to launch mobile TV services following weak earnings in the second quarter, and Cellcom also expressed interest in the mobile credit card business.
Both operators are suffering from the impact of increased competition in the market after six new operators started operations this year, Reuters added.
It seems there is worse to come: "This quarter does not reflect the full impact of the increased market competition following the entry of the new competitors ... characterised by unlimited packages at significantly lower prices ... whose full impact we will see in the coming quarters," Reuters quoted Cellcom CEO Nir Sztern as saying.
In the second quarter Partner's earnings dropped 42 per cent to €24.1 million, while revenue fell 24 per cent to €287.5 million, Dow Jones Newswires reported. Monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) fell 10 per cent while churn rose to 8.9 per cent from 6.5 per cent a year earlier.
Cellcom, meanwhile, reported a 50 per cent decline in the second quarter earnings to NIS121 million ($30.8 million), while revenue fell 5.7 per cent to €24.3 million, while the operator's ARPU fell 16.5 per cent and churn grew to 8.1 per cent from 6.4 per cent a year earlier.
For more:
- see this Reuters article
- see this Dow Jones Newswires article
- see this separate Dow Jones Newswires article
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