NEW YORK-Telecom operators in Europe must re-examine their competitive strategies as fixed-line minutes shift to mobile networks, according to Frost & Sullivan.
For both fixed and mobile, wireless local area network technology is seen as a tool that can be leveraged to boost revenue and reinforce market advantage, said the firm. Wireless LAN also is seen as a technology that can bridge the two sectors and drive convergence.
Last year, fixed-line minutes fell by almost 5 percent and fixed lines decreased by 500,000, said Frost & Sullivan.
“The major drivers for fixed to mobile substitution include increasing mobile voice competition, mobile saturation, 3G capacity and the emergence of location-based charging,” said Jan ten Sythoff, analyst at Frost. “The market is, however, up against a number of restraints, such as the growing fixed-line competition, pricing, as well as limitations of mobile, such as coverage and voice quality.”
Location-based billing could become a tool for driving substitution, said Frost.
