Executive summary
Luxembourg has one of Europe's smallest telecom markets, and consequently there is little room for significant growth or competition. In common with most other markets, revenue from the fixed line sector has been falling steadily as consumers migrate to mobile-only and computer-to-computer VoIP solutions. Since 2005, income generated by mobile telecoms has far exceeded that from of fixed lines, while revenue from the broadband sector has propped up total revenue, compensating for declining fixed-line revenue.
The market has also been affected by the country's poor economic performance since 2007: the economy showed stagnant growth in 2008, while it was expected to shrink by about 5% in 2009 and show only moderate improvement in 2010. This decline has translated into more cautious spending among both domestic consumers and the many foreign workers (largely from international companies based in Luxembourg as also from departments of the European Union and affiliated associations).
Consequently, overall telecom revenue grew by a modest 1.5% in 2008, while it may show zero growth for 2009. Nevertheless, total investment in fixed-line and mobile infrastructure increased by 27% in 2008, year-on-year, reaching €121 million. About 80% of investment was in the fixed-line sector as operators showed a greater commitment to future-proofing their networks through deploying FttH and FttC. Mobile operators have similarly concentrated on network upgrades to provide mobile broadband connectivity to subscribers, and so exploit the potential of higher ARPU mobile data services.
Luxembourg-key telecom parameters-2004; 2008
Sector20042008
Fixed-line service:
Total subscribers (thousand)320260
Annual change-4.4%5.2%
Fixed-line penetration (population)60%51%
Broadband:
Subscribers (thousand)37143
Annual change131%11%
Broadband penetration (population)8%30%
Mobile services:
Total subscribers (thousand)583707
Annual change7%3%
Mobile penetration (population)130%147%
Key highlights:
Luxembourg's telecom sector revenue was worth about €506 million in 2008, of which 63% was from the incumbent P&T Luxembourg and 37% from alternative operators. The country's small size benefits from having a population concentrated in a few towns, resulting in a high population density enabling national coverage of telecom services with relatively limited resources.
Luxembourg's central geographic position in Europe has helped the country's operators tap into international telecom networks, principally through the backbone networks of Belgacom, Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom as well as those of alternative telcos. Both P&T Luxembourg and the few main altnets have invested in fibre networks to anticipate future consumer demand for high-bandwidth services.
Important regulatory measures adopted in 2008 will safeguard competition on the local loop unbundling and the wholesale broadband access markets, and so grant easier access to P&T's infrastructure. Nevertheless, further work needs to be done in coming years to improve conditions of access to NGNs.
Luxembourg's mobile penetration, at a theoretical 150% in mid-2009, is the highest in Europe, though many registered SIM card holders are not-resident trans-frontier workers. The penetration rate is expected to continue climbing steadily in 2010, due in part to the popularity of users multiple SIMs for professional and private use.
Broadband penetration took off from 2005 as a result of regulatory measures to improve competition. In mid-2009 about 45% of all homes accessed the Internet via ISDN, far higher than elsewhere in the EU. The broadband market will become increasingly important for operators in coming year, and may represent 23% of total revenue in 2010 compared to 12% in 2006. Broadband penetration is the fifth highest in the EU27 and far above the EU27 average. P&T's share of the overall broadband market will continue to fall in coming years, but it will remain the highest in the EU in the medium term.This report covers trends and developments in telecommunications, mobile, Internet, broadband, digital TV and converging media including VoIP and IPTV developments. Subjects include:
Market and industry analyses, trends and developments;
Facts, figures and statistics;
Industry and regulatory issues;
Infrastructure;
Major Players, Revenues, Subscribers;
Internet, VoIP, IPTV;
Mobile Voice and Data Markets;
Broadband (FttH, DSL, cable TV, wireless);
Convergence and Digital Media;
Broadband market forecasts for selective years to 2018.
Table of Contents
1. Executive summary
2. Key statistics
3. Telecommunications market
3.1 Overview of Luxembourg's telecom market
4. Regulatory environment
4.1 History
4.1.1 EU regulatory framework
4.2 Regulatory authorities
4.3 Telecom sector liberalisation in Luxembourg
4.3.1 Interconnect
4.3.2 Access
4.3.3 Number portability (NP)
4.3.4 Carrier PreSelection
5. Fixed network operators in Luxembourg
5.1 P&T Luxembourg
5.2 Cegecom
5.3 Tele2 Luxembourg
5.4 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
6. Telecommunications infrastructure
6.1 National telecom network
7. Broadband market
7.1 Overview
7.1.1 Broadband statistics
7.2 Cable modems
7.3 Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
7.4 Fibre
7.5 Wireless broadband
7.5.1 Wireless Local Loop (WLL)
7.5.2 WLAN/WiFi/WiMAX
7.6 Internet via satellite
8. Convergence
8.1 Overview of media convergence
8.2 Digital TV (DTV)
8.2.1 TV-over-DSL (IPTV)
8.2.2 Cable TV (CATV)
8.2.3 Satellite TV
8.2.4 RTL Group
8.2.5 SES Astra
9. Mobile communications
9.1 Overview of Luxembourg's mobile market
9.1.1 Mobile statistics
9.2 Regulatory issues
9.2.1 Spectrum regulations and spectrum auctions
9.2.2 Fixed-to-mobile call charges
9.2.3 Mobile Number Portability
9.2.4 Roaming
9.2.5 Bundling
9.3 Mobile technologies
9.3.1 Digital
9.3.2 Third Generation (3G) mobile
9.4 Major mobile operators
9.4.1 LuxGSM
9.4.2 Tango
9.4.3 VOXMobile
9.5 Mobile data services
9.5.1 Short Message Service (SMS)
9.5.2 Multimedia Messaging Service
9.5.3 BlackBerry
9.5.4 Mobile TV
10. Forecasts
10.1 Broadband forecasts-2007-2012; 2018
10.1.1 Scenario 1-higher broadband subscriber growth
10.1.2 Scenario 2-lower broadband subscriber growth
10.2 Notes on scenario forecasts
11. Related reports
Table 1-Country statistics Luxembourg-2009
Table 2-Telephone network statistics-2008
Table 3-Internet user statistics-March 2009
Table 4-Broadband statistics-2008
Table 5-Mobile statistics-2008
Table 6-National telecommunications authorities
Table 7-Telecom investment by sector-2004-2008
Table 8-Fixed-services revenue-2003-2008
Table 9-Telecom revenue by operator¨C 2003-2008
Table 10-Broadband and enterprise revenue-2005-2008
Table 11-Telecom licences in Luxembourg-2007
Table 12-Interconnection revenue-2005-2007
Table 13-Unbundled loops and access lines-2005-2009
Table 14-LLU, shared access price-connection, monthly rental-2004-2008
Table 15-Accumulated fixed numbers ported-2002-2008
Table 16-Fixed-line revenue by sector-2003-2008
Table 17-Fixed-line traffic by sector-2004-2008
Table 18-Altnet fixed-lines and market share-2004-2008
Table 19-P&T Luxembourg revenue-2003-2007
Table 20-Tele2 Luxembourg subscribers by sector-March 2008
Table 21-Tele2 Luxembourg revenue by sector-2007-2008
Table 22-Fixed lines in service and teledensity-1995; 1997; 1999-2008
Table 23-Broadband market revenue-2003-2006
Table 24-Broadband subscriber growth by year-2004-2008
Table 25-Internet users and penetration rate-1995-2009
Table 26-Total broadband subscribers and penetration rate-2001-2008
Table 27-Broadband subscribers by type-2006; 2008-2009
Table 28-Broadband subscribers by provider-2003-2008
Table 29-Cable broadband subscribers-2003-2008
Table 30-LuxDSL subscribers-2004-2008
Table 31-Mobile operators, subscribers and annual change-June 2008
Table 32-Mobile subscribers and penetration rate-1997; 1999-2009
Table 33-Market share by operator-2005-2008
Table 34-Mobile services revenue-2004-2008
Table 35-Fixed-to-mobile interconnection charges-2006-2008
Table 36-Cumulative mobile numbers ported-2005-2008
Table 37-VOXMobile subscribers, revenue and ARPU-2007-2009
Table 38-SMS messages-2004-2008
Table 39-Forecast broadband subscribers-higher market growth scenario-2007-2012; 2018
Table 40-Forecast broadband subscribers-lower market growth scenario-2007-2012; 2018
Exhibit 1-EU-The New Regulatory Framework (NRF)
Exhibit 2-Overview of media convergence
