"This situation shows that the consumers' requirements for high capacity and mobility are having a strong impact on market trends," says Marianne Treschow, Director-General of PTS.
In total, the retail market for electronic communications in Sweden had a turnover of SEK 49.4bn in 2008. This is one per cent lower than in 2007. Revenues from businesses accounted for most of this drop, whereas revenues from average households rose by nearly one per cent.
The market for mobile call and data services is expanding. The number of text messages sent increased by seven per cent and mobile data traffic rose by 76 per cent. There was a 30 per cent increase in MMS, although this service still represents a relatively small proportion of total revenues. However, revenues from mobile call services fell for the first time since 2004.
The total number of fixed telephone subscriptions fell by three per cent in 2008 compared with one per cent in 2007. As previously, the number of traditional subscriptions has continued to decline, and for the first time there was also a reduction in alternative operators' wholesale line rental. Conversely, the number of IP-based telephony subscriptions rose by 19 per cent.
This is the first time that PTS has been able to present figures for bundled services. Just over eight per cent of all mobile telephony, fixed telephony, broadband and digital television subscriptions are bundled with other subscriptions. The most common form of bundling is a combination of broadband and fixed telephony, followed by fixed telephony, television and broadband.
'The Swedish Telecommunications Market' is an annual report produced by PTS, which describes trends within the areas of fixed and mobile call services as well as data communications and Internet services.
A web version of 'The Swedish Telecommunications Market' is available at www.svensktelemarknad.se. Market shares, in addition to search and sorting options, are published in this report as well as a full range of tables.
It is also worth visiting www.telepriskollen.se (only in Swedish) for price comparisons and good advice when choosing an operator.
Read a summary of the report
For more information, please contact Stefan Williamson, head of Market Analysis, tel. 070-811 40 53 or PTS's Press Office 08-678 55 55.
The Swedish Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) monitors the electronic communications and postal sectors in Sweden. The term ‘electronic communications’ includes telephony, the Internet and radio. The Agency works with consumer and competition issues, efficient utilisation of resources and secure communications. Read more at www.pts.se.