Australian broadband market trailing with 2.8 million subscribers by 2008, predicts IDC
Announcement posted by IDC 05 Jun 2004
According to IDC's recent report "The Australian Broadband Market Services and Equipment Analysis and Forecast, 2003-2008: Playing Catch-Up, but Catching-Up", IDC predicts Australia will have a broadband penetration of 13% by 2008. The study reveals that Australia remains in the broadband backwater when benchmarked against other developed countries, and alarmingly IDC predicts the situation will remain the same over the next 5 years.
"IDC estimates that the total broadband number of subscribers was 727,440 in 2003 and predicts the number to reach 2.8 million subscribers by 2008, a CAGR of 19%. While IDC expects the strongest growth in 2004 to be in the residential market and the market to grow three fold by 2008, the bulk of broadband revenue will be coming from residential broadband subscribers about twice the corporate market by 2008," predicted Landry Fevre, IDC Research Director, Telecommunications.
IDC found that most Australia broadband subscribers have an access download speed of 256 or 512Kbps, which significantly limits the delivery of content and hinders potential initiatives for high-content value proposition such as TVoVDSL and VoIP services.
"Looking at the International broadband market landscape, some markets enjoy very attractive triple play bundle which consists of voice, broadband and TV services over the same network. For example, France's second largest broadband service providers, Iliad, offers free national phone calls, 2Mpbs ADSL and 100+ TV channels for about the third of the price for what you would get in Australia. There is still a long way to go for Australian consumers to get a decent deal", said Landry Fevre.
"In the countries with high broadband penetration, none of the cable companies have an investment in the xDSL service providers, compared to Australia where Telstra and Optus have investments in both xDSL as well as cable markets, this is a major inihibitor to competition" added Landry Fevre.
Wireless broadband is not a fad and should remain on the watch-list of any broadband service providers. Initially, it will become an alternative for so called broadband "back-holes" where xDSL or cable isn't available or when mobility is valued and customers are willing to pay a premium. "The real threat for Telstra and Optus will occur when voice services will be offered over these services, and IDC predicts this will happen by the end of 2004", said Landry Fevre.
"IDC estimates that the total broadband number of subscribers was 727,440 in 2003 and predicts the number to reach 2.8 million subscribers by 2008, a CAGR of 19%. While IDC expects the strongest growth in 2004 to be in the residential market and the market to grow three fold by 2008, the bulk of broadband revenue will be coming from residential broadband subscribers about twice the corporate market by 2008," predicted Landry Fevre, IDC Research Director, Telecommunications.
IDC found that most Australia broadband subscribers have an access download speed of 256 or 512Kbps, which significantly limits the delivery of content and hinders potential initiatives for high-content value proposition such as TVoVDSL and VoIP services.
"Looking at the International broadband market landscape, some markets enjoy very attractive triple play bundle which consists of voice, broadband and TV services over the same network. For example, France's second largest broadband service providers, Iliad, offers free national phone calls, 2Mpbs ADSL and 100+ TV channels for about the third of the price for what you would get in Australia. There is still a long way to go for Australian consumers to get a decent deal", said Landry Fevre.
"In the countries with high broadband penetration, none of the cable companies have an investment in the xDSL service providers, compared to Australia where Telstra and Optus have investments in both xDSL as well as cable markets, this is a major inihibitor to competition" added Landry Fevre.
Wireless broadband is not a fad and should remain on the watch-list of any broadband service providers. Initially, it will become an alternative for so called broadband "back-holes" where xDSL or cable isn't available or when mobility is valued and customers are willing to pay a premium. "The real threat for Telstra and Optus will occur when voice services will be offered over these services, and IDC predicts this will happen by the end of 2004", said Landry Fevre.