Europe, the Middle East and Africa Market Overview
Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) can be classified broadly into Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa subregions.
Western Europe contains the largest number of global mobile operators in the world. All of these operators are actively rolling out 3G networks, and they view content and data-focused applications as providing excellent opportunities for delivering a good return on investment. Despite the availability of large volumes of content and applications through the operator portals, consumer adoption could be better. This is attributable to the following factors:
- Discoverability
- User experience
- Relevance of content
- Pricing of content and browsing
Operators now face the challenges of finding more effective ways to merchandise the content and applications on their portals and of providing consumers with a better user experience that helps them make informed purchasing decisions.
Western Europe’s operators are eager to investigate the possibility of addressing these issues through an on-device portal (ODP) solution. Each of the global operators in Western Europe is either evaluating or has decided to purchase ODP solutions. Nokia’s Nokia Content Discover solution, for example, is being discussed actively with these global operators.
In Central and Eastern Europe, the situation is somewhat different. Operators there are challenged to maximize market penetration and customer acquisition. The 3G market is still in its infancy, and the market for content and applications can be characterized by low price points and demand for localized content.
Conversely, the Middle East is dominated by high-end devices, including an extremely high penetration of S60 devices. Roll out of 3G devices has begun, demand for localized content and applications that make use of the rich capabilities of the S60 platform is clearly there, and there is evidence that ODPs are being deployed commercially in a number of markets. In terms of distribution, independent retail channels and distributors dominate the sale of devices in most markets of the Middle East, with some even dabbling in content and application sales. Nokia Content Discover is also actively being discussed with a number of operators and service providers in the Middle East.
Currently, the market in Africa is characterized by low-end devices. With a few exceptions — for example, in South Africa — Africa’s operators are making it their key priority to maximize the rolling out of 2.5G networks, still focusing on voice and subscriber acquisition. Nevertheless, Africa is an important emerging market.
Examples of Global Strategic Operators in Western Europe
Orange, Europe’s second-largest wireless operator and Internet access provider, has a total of 84.3 million subscribers, 70 percent of which are in Europe. Orange Group consists of 17 "Orange countries" globally, with a strong presence in the U.K., France, Poland, and Spain.
Orange launched its NExT (New Experience in Telecommunications) program in 2005. This is part of an ongoing transformation toward becoming an operator that provides integrated converged communications — with all services under the Orange brand name.
Orange has stated that third-party external innovation is necessary for Orange and that it needs to source, identify, capture, and exploit external innovation. As part of this, partners and developers who want to distribute their innovative mobile services and applications to Orange end users need an entry point within the Orange Group. This entry point is called Orange Partner.
Membership in the Orange Partner program is free. There are three levels of membership — member, premium member, and contracted partner. The program offers different levels of support to the different levels of membership, including technical support and commercial support.
Through the Orange Partner program, the company has created a worldwide developer focus. There are Orange developer centers in England, France, the Netherlands, the U.S., China, Japan, and Scotland.
For more information, please visit www.orangepartner.com.
The Vodafone Group (www.vodafone.com) has ownership interests in 27 countries across five continents. In addition, the group has partner networks in 33 other countries. Based on its ownership interests, as of June 2006, the group had 186.8 million proportionate customers in its subsidiaries, joint ventures, associates, and investments. At the end of June 2006, there were 553 million venture customers. To our understanding there is no Vodafone global application-development activity in place at this moment in time. There may, however, be activity within local developer communities, but public-domain information is limited.
Vodafone UK announced the launch of a third-party mobile-applications program in January 2006. This program aims to deliver business applications, such as job scheduling and sales force automation tools, via the Vodafone UK network. The program supports a structured evaluation and implementation process for the rollout of mobile services, offering customers the quality assurance they require when purchasing business applications from third-party developers.
Vodafone UK will have independent experts evaluate and endorse new applications through rigorous assessment of their technical integrity. The program, which will also asses relevant customer demand and vertical-sector suitability, was developed in response to growing customer demand for mobile data solutions. That demand was generated by the popularity of mobile e mail services such as Vodafone Business Email and BlackBerry from Vodafone. The objective of the third-party application-development program is to provide Vodafone UK’s customers with help and support in choosing the most suitable products and application providers for their business needs.
There are three tiers to this U.K. program:
- Vodafone Branded is designed for applications that have an established customer demand and appeal that extends across multiple vertical markets. Examples of existing applications at this level include AppSwing from Vodafone, a solution that enables companies to mobilize their existing Windows-based line of business applications for BlackBerry, Symbian, or Microsoft Windows mobile devices.
- Vodafone Preferred applications are approved by an independent technical expert and have been shown to have appeal in two or more vertical markets. Vodafone Preferred applications benefit from Vodafone UK’s professional-services expertise to aid customer deployment.
- Vodafone Certified applications have been tested and approved by an independent technical expert.
By working with Vodafone UK, independent software vendors gain access to Vodafone UK’s technical expertise and testing program. In addition, they benefit from integration with existing Vodafone UK solutions such as its managed services program and device management capabilities. Vodafone-branded and preferred applications also benefit from integration into Vodafone UK’s ongoing sales and marketing program — both direct and through partners.
Those interested in participating in the new program should contact vodafoneapplications@vodafone.net or visit www.vodafone.co.uk/business.
Hutchison is part of the Hutchison Whampoa Group. The mobile telecommunications arm, operating under the "3" brand, has operations in multiple countries, with its main operations in the U.K., Italy, Hong Kong, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, and Australia. It is a 3G-only operator with a focus on content and video services. Globally, Hutchison has more than 10 million 3G subscribers (including, 5.5 million in Italy and 3.5 million in the U.K.).
For more information, please visit the following Web sites:
| Hutchison Whampoa | www.three.com |
| Australia | www.three.com.au |
| Austria | www.drei.at |
| U.K. | www.three.co.uk |
| Denmark | www.3.dk |
| Hong Kong | www.three.com.hk |
| Ireland | www.3ireland.ie |
| Italy | www.tre.it |
| Sweden | www.tre.se |
T-Mobile has a number of international operations in Germany, the U.K., Austria, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, and the U.S. We are not aware of any T-Mobile developer programs. For more detailed information about selected country operations, please visit the following Web sites:
| Germany | t-mobile.de |
| U.K. | www.t-mobile.co.uk |
| Austria | www.t-mobile.at |
| Czech Republic | www.t-mobile.cz |
| Netherlands | www.t-mobile.nl |
| Slovakia | www.t-mobile.sk |
| Croatia | www.t-mobile.hr |
| Poland | www.era.pl |
| Hungary | www.t-mobile.hu |
| Macedonia | www.t-mobile.com.mk |
| Montenegro | www.t-mobile-cg.com |
| U.S. | www.t-mobile.com |
Telefónica S.A. originated in Spain, and now through growth and acquisition, this mobile operator has operations in several Latin American countries, Asia, and several European states (Spain, Germany, Slovakia, the U.K., Ireland, and the Czech Republic).
With an enterprise focus, Telefónica’s developer community is called MovilForum.
For more information, please visit www.movilforum.com.
For more information about individual country operations, please visit the following Web sites:
| Spain | www.movistar.es |
| U.K. | www.o2.co.uk |
| Germany | www.o2online.de |
| Ireland | www.o2online.ie |
| Czech Republic | www.cz.o2.com |
| Asia | www.seeo2.com |
Telecom Italia, the leading mobile operator in Italy, has 31.5 million customers there. During a period of consolidation, Telecom Italia divested itself of other foreign assets (for example, in Peru and Greece) to focus on its domestic market. Telecom Italia’s focus on the Telecom Italia brand — its strong position in the fixed network and broadband businesses and its proposed acquisition of ISP brands such as America Online — places it at the forefront of convergence. In addition, Telecom Italia has in-house research and development and its own application development labs.
For more information, please visit www.telecomitalia.com.
The following are some of the other large operators:
MTN (Mobile Telephone Networks), a major communications company, is focused on the African continent. The company states that access to communications provides a path to economic empowerment. The MTN Group Limited operates three business divisions: MTN-SA (South Africa), MTN International, and Strategic Investments.
The MTN Group is a leading provider of communications services, offering mobile network access and business solutions. The MTN Group is listed on South Africa’s JSE Securities Exchange (JSE Limited) in the industrial (telecommunications) sector.
Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a multinational telecommunications group, operating in 21 countries of Africa and the Middle East. At the end of March 2006, MTN had recorded more than 28 million subscribers across its operations, including those of the newly acquired Investcom LLC. In the last quarter of 2006, the MTN Group was expected to launch commercial operations in Iran, following the successful purchase of 49 percent of the stock in Irancell.
The MTN Group operates in Botswana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda, and Zambia. The acquisition of Investcom adds the following countries of operation to MTN’s portfolio: Afghanistan, Benin, Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, the Republic of Guinea, Liberia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
The company’s content partners and aggregators include: Buoingiorno UK Ltd (www.buongiorno.com), Leaf Wireless (www.leafwireless.com), and Starfish Mobile (www.starfishmobile.com). MTN says that any content that is presented to MTN for use on its mobile portal is called "MTN Loaded." Therefore, such content has to be offered through one of MTN’s content aggregators. Developers who have games, pictures, music, or any other applications they would like MTN to consider for its portal should contact one of the MTN content aggregators.
For more information, please visit www.mtn.co.za
Telenor is one of the largest mobile operators worldwide. Its ownership interests in 12 mobile operators across Europe and Asia constituted a subscriber base of 82.7 million at the end of 2005.
Telenor is Norway’s largest telecommunications company and one of the fastest-growing providers of mobile communications services worldwide. Telenor is also the largest provider of TV services in the Nordic region. In 2005, 57 percent of Telenor's revenues were from mobile operations. Telenor has mobile operations in some of the world’s fastest-growing markets, and its home market, Norway, is one of the most advanced in the world today.
Group revenues for 2005 reached $11.2 USD (68.9 billion NOK) — a 14 percent increase over revenues for 2004. At year-end 2005, Telenor employed 27,600 — 16,700 of whom were working outside Norway. And the company had controlling interests in mobile operations in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Ukraine, Hungary, Montenegro, Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Telenor also holds minority interests in mobile operations in Russia and Austria.
In accordance with Telenor's strategy of consolidating its international mobile position by obtaining control of selected international mobile operations, and in order to maximize the benefit of cross-border synergies and increase overall profitability, Telenor also made new acquisitions in 2005.
For more information, please visit www.telenor.com.
TeliaSonera operations are focused in the Nordic and Baltic regions. Offering a wide range of services — including mobile, fixed voice, data communications, and broadband — the company is well positioned in the field of convergence.
TeliaSonera’s domestic markets are mature, characterized by high penetration and low barriers to switching between services and service providers.
Beyond the domestic regions, TeliaSonera has operations in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, and Turkey.
For more information, please visit www.teliasonera.com.
KPN provides telephone, Internet, and television services to consumers through its fixed network in the Netherlands. The company provides business customers with services that range from voice, Internet, and data services to fully-managed solutions. For personal and business customers, KPN offers mobile services in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and other parts of Western Europe. At the end of 2005, KPN was serving 6.9 million fixed-line subscribers and 2.2 million Internet customers in the Netherlands, as well as 20.8 mobile customers in Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
For further information, please visit www.kpn.com.
