Challenges Facing Mobile Operators in Mature Mobile Cellular Markets

Author: Jake Saunders, Vice President of Forecasting

Published: 21 Feb 2008

In the mid- to late-1990s, mobile operators could increase turnover and return a profit more easily than now. Then, miniaturization was driving down the size and costs of making handsets, allowing a range of devices to be rolled out, appealing to wide end-user budgets and tastes. Next came the task of segmenting airtime pricing for different volumes of usage, and it was then a case of having enough retail outlets and distribution channels to reach out and tap into pent-up demand for telephone services “on the go.” Not to belittle the remarkable level of innovation involved in getting a cellular network to work with the volumes of subscribers and voice traffic generated, but by the mid-1990s many technological challenges had been overcome.

The full text of this Insight is available to subscribers of the Mobile Operator Strategies Research Service and the Smartphones & Mobile Devices Research Service and the Mobile Networks Research Service.

Contact a representative about service purchasing options.