The gap between mobile revenues generated in Northern Europe and those from Southern Europe has widened, according to Fitch Ratings. During the fourth quarter 2010, operators in the North grew their revenues by 2.1 per cent, while those operating in countries bordering the Mediterranean reported a decline of 6.2 per cent.
The credit rating agency, which has commented on this divergence for some years, stated that operators in Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal have now seen their revenues shrink even more, with Greece reporting revenues steeply down by between 17 per cent and 20 per cent for the past three quarters.
While all of Europe was able to report growth in data revenues for the last quarter of 2010, helped significantly by smartphone adoption and non-messaging applications, this was again split across regions.
In Northern Europe, mobile non-voice revenues experienced strong growth of 15 per cent, while growth for operators in the South was less buoyant. An extreme example was Telecom Italia, with a reduction in non-voice revenues of 3 per cent in the quarter.
Highlights in Northern Europe were Bouygues Telecom, with revenue growth that has consistently outpaced FT Orange and SFR, while T-Mobile's revenue has continued to lead the German market.
For more:
- see this Cellular News article
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