Consumers talk and surf more and more from mobile networks, taking advantage of the lower price per minute in communications. Operators, on the other hand, see traffic volume increase from quarter to quarter, despite revenues falling.
TMN recorded a 10 percent increase in traffic volume in the first half of 2010, compared to the same period last year, according to the accounts made by Jornal de NegĂłcios. The usage increase per customer was five percent per month, but the average revenue of each subscriber fell 7.8 percent.
Calculations for Vodafone Portugal reveal that traffic per customer, with regard to voice, grew, on average per month, by 7.7 percent from January to June, while average revenue fell by nine percent.
At Optimus, total traffic increased by 10.4 percent, showing a four percent increase in average monthly usage, to a drop in average revenue per customer of eight percent. At Sonae’s operator, the average revenue per minute spoken is 10 cents, says Negócios.
The difference that has been registered is also evident in the revenues of the operators, especially those related to services. Compared to the same period in 2009, TMN’s revenues fell 4.1 percent in the semester. At Optimus, the decline was 1.2 percent.
Despite these signs and the drop in EBITDA, the operators’ margins are considerable: TMN has a margin of 47.2 percent and Optimus 32.8 percent.
