Study: Postpaid subs reach 50% of subscriber base on W. Europe

The push by operators in Western Europe to shift prepaid customers over to postpaid subscribers is producing results, according to a new study from Wireless Intelligence. The market research firm claims that over 50 per cent of operators in this region now have more contract than prepaid customers as they battle with high penetration and saturation in many markets. The study said that the number of contract subscribers in Western Europe increased by an average of 7.7 per cent per annum between 2007 and 2010, rising from 41.5 per cent to 47.4 per cent of total mobile connections. In contrast, prepaid mobile connections fell by an average of 0.5 per cent per annum over the same period. Subsequently, some 55 per cent of operators in the region now have a higher number of postpaid subscribers than prepaid, compared to 46 per cent three years previously. Release