Light Reading Mobile highlights the leaders and laggards on the European mobile scene in its latest wireless scorecard

Michelle Donegan

August 12, 2010

2 Min Read
Euro Wireless Q2 Scorecard

The second-quarter earnings results are out in the open now, so Light Reading Mobile has sliced, diced, and analyzed the big five European operators' numbers to reveal just how well these communication giants are doing in their wireless businesses.

The selection of wireless financial data from the operators' home markets and key European operations gives a snapshot of the mobile landscape across the pond, and Telefónica SA (NYSE: TEF) has emerged as leader of the wireless pack on several metrics. (See Update: Wireless Q2 Score Card.)

The Spanish giant didn't rack up the biggest revenues in the quarter, compared to Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT) and Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD), nor does it have the most wireless customers (that would be Vodafone), but it showed the best growth rates in terms of revenues, subscriber additions, and average revenue per user (ARPU) compared with the same period a year ago.

For all of the operators, mobile data is a key growth driver in Europe. Some operators reported data revenue figures for the quarter, while others reported in terms of data ARPU.

The chart includes data ARPU figures, which are averaged across the operators' European operations for Orange (NYSE: FTE) and Telefónica. But the overall mobile data revenue numbers for Deutsche Telekom, Telecom Italia Mobile SpA (Milan: TIM), and Vodafone are worthy of mention here.

  • Deutsche Telekom reported mobile data revenues of €1 billion (US$1.2 billion) in the second quarter, up 25 percent from €0.8 billion ($1 billion) in the same period last year.

  • Telecom Italia reported revenue for mobile "value-added services" (VAS) -- which includes messaging and "interactive" services -- of €512 million ($658 million) in the second quarter, up 2.8 percent from the year-ago quarter. The operator says that VAS revenue represented 25.5 percent of wireless revenue in the quarter.

  • And Vodafone recorded data revenue of £852 million ($1.3 billion) in the quarter, up 20.3 percent from the same period last year.

    Now here's how they all stack up:

    {Table 1}

    — Michelle Donegan, European Editor, Light Reading Mobile

About the Author(s)

Michelle Donegan

Michelle Donegan is an independent technology writer who has covered the communications industry for the last 20 years on both sides of the Pond. Her career began in Chicago in 1993 when Telephony magazine launched an international title, aptly named Global Telephony. Since then, she has upped sticks (as they say) to the UK and has written for various publications including Communications Week International, Total Telecom and, most recently, Light Reading.  

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