Ultra-broadband is still very uncommon among Italians, who continue to prefer the mobile network to access the services they need. But delays in the digitization of businesses and public administration are also holding back the use of fiber optics. This is the picture that emerges in the Report to Parliament by the president of the Communications Authority, Angelo Marcello Cardani.
“The availability of access services to fixed broadband networks has reached 99% of homes and that of ultrabroadband has increased from 36% in 2014 to 44% in 2015 – explains Cardani – However, the diffusion of access to ultrabroadband it is still very low: 5,4% the number of subscribers on the population against 30% in the EU, even if on the increase compared to 2014, in which the percentage stood at 3,8%”.
ITALIANS PREFER THE MOBILE NETWORK
Italian consumers, points out Cardani, "continue to prefer access to mobile networks over fixed ones (75% diffusion against 53% of accesses to the basic broadband fixed network, a symptom of a slower convergence process compared to the Europe where the indicators are almost equivalent and equal to 72 and 75%)". 1,8% of Italians' per capita income is absorbed by spending at the lowest available price for broadband subscription services against the 1,3% of the European average.
“At the origin of Italy's unsatisfactory performance – continued Cardani – two determining factors: a lower level of specialization and digital culture on the one hand and the aging of the population on the other. Furthermore, some surveys highlight the role of cultural factors and consumer habits as a brake on the diffusion of Internet use; Otherwise, the almost double percentage of those who have never used the Internet in Italy compared to the European Union cannot be explained. In 2015, in Italy, this percentage was 28% compared to 16% in Europe”. According to the Authority, this delay “is higher in the more advanced services aimed at the mature population: shopping in which only 39% of Italians use the Net against 65% of Europeans; banking (43% against 57%); Video on Demand (19% against 41%); the News (57% against 68%)”.
The use of the web by the new generations and the widespread use of subscriptions to data connection and access services partly fill the delay in the propensity of Italians to use social network services (58% of Italians against 63% of the Union) and music, video and games, in which Italy exceeds the European average (52% against 49%).
LIGHT ON ENEL
In this context, Agcom announces that it will follow the evolution of the events related to Enel's entry into the ultra-broadband sector, in particular those related to the agreement between Metroweb and Enel Open Fiber, to assess the possible effects on competition.
INVESTMENTS GROW
On the economic front, the Authority speaks of double-digit growth for overall investments in infrastructure in the telecommunications sector. Last year the increase was 20,2% and the total was close to 7,4 billion euro. In particular, for the mobile network the growth in investments was equal to 15,5% (to 3,193 billion), for the fixed network the increase was 24% (to 4,182 billion) of which Olo's share was equal to 1,670 billion.
FALLING PRICES IN TLC
In general, the trend in telecommunications prices in recent years, Agcom points out, has been decreasing, with great benefits for consumers. The gap with respect to the general price index has widened over time. In 2015, the reduction in revenues from voice telephony services continued, as measured by user spending (-8,0%) and also that of volumes which decreased by 10,3% compared to the previous year. For revenues from data services, on the other hand, there was a growth (+3,6%) such as to exceed those from voice services.
TELECOM MARKET SHARE DECLINES
In 2015, Telecom Italia's market share in broadband services continued to decrease, settling at 47% of lines, with a reduction of approximately one percentage point compared to 2014. The reduction in overall revenues from telecommunications services on the mobile network seems to have stopped: there is only a decrease of 0,6% compared to 2014. The reduction in voice revenues is significant (-8%). On the other hand, revenues from data services (+6,2%) and those from other services (+5,5%) grew.
PAY TV RECOVERS ON FREE-TO-FREE TV
On the media front, free-to-air TV still produces the largest part of revenues (4,5 billion euros), even if the gap with respect to pay TV has been shrinking in recent years. The main source of revenue, also for 2015, is the sale of advertising space within television programmes, accounting for 41% of total revenue.
A not much lower incidence (38%) of the total is exercised by pay television offers (including those on the web), while the weight of public funds is more contained (21%) which include the fee for the public television service, the agreements with public subjects and the public funds disbursed to the broadcasters. About 90% of total revenues are held by three main operators: Sky, Fininvest/Mediaset and Rai.
RAI DOMINATES CLEARLY, SKY RULES IN THE PAY
In free-to-air television, although there is a decrease in the shares of the first two operators, the preponderant role of Rai is confirmed, which holds a share of over 48%, followed by Mediaset, with a share of 35%. In pay-TV, there are two operators with significant revenue shares: the Sky group, with a share of approximately 2015% in 76, and Fininvest/Mediaset, which with Premium has a market share of approximately 19%. The concentration index of the pay-television market, even if decreasing, is higher than 6.100 points.
