Fixed-Mobile Convergence to Become Focus in France

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- 51 percent of all French households to subscribe to triple-play bundles in 2015, up from 36 percent in 2010, according to a new report from Pyramid Research.

France: Data-Related Opportunities Abound in an Otherwise Saturated Market offers a precise profile of the country's telecommunications, media, and technology sectors based on proprietary data from Pyramid's research in the market. It provides detailed competitive analysis of both the fixed and mobile sectors, tracks the market shares of technologies and services, and monitors the introduction and spread of new technologies.

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The regulatory environment encourages competition, but a saturated market makes it a tough operating environment. "Convergence is the key competitive factor in France, and it is one of the most advanced convergence markets in the world," says Sylwia Boguszewska, Analyst at Pyramid. "The bulk of convergence will continue to be in triple-play services, mostly bundles of voice, TV, and broadband," she adds.

France leads the European telecom market in terms of the cheapest and most innovative triple-play bundles. "This is driven by intense competition, but also in part by a tax break (while broadband and phone services are charged at a 19.6 percent rate, the other 50 percent of the bundle is categorized by most telcos as TV services, and is thus charged at a lower 5.5 percent rate)," states Boguszewska. "For instance, the recent Orange quad-play promotion includes: Internet (up to 20 Mbps), TV (up to 120 channels), voice (unlimited land line calls in France, one hour to mobile) and 3G+ mobile broadband for 34.99 ($44.03)," she indicates.

"Operators are also moving to quad-play services by adding mobile broadband or voice to their portfolios," says Boguszewska. Pyramid expects quad-play adoption to be in 4.5 percent of all households by 2015. "Fixed-mobile convergence will become an increasingly important competitive focus over the next couple of years as femtocell technology matures and become more affordable," she says.

France: Data-Related Opportunities Abound in an Otherwise Saturated Market is part of Pyramid Research's Europe Country Intelligence Report Series and is priced at $990.

Pyramid Research