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Research and Markets: Iran Telecommunications Report Q1 2012

Business Monitor International's Iran Telecommunications Report provides industry professionals and strategists, corporate analysts, telecommunication associations, government departments and regulatory bodies with independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on Iran's telecommunications industry.

BMI's Q112 update on Iran's telecommunications market contains new five-year growth forecasts for the development of the country's mobile telephony, internet usage and fixed-line sectors. This quarter BMI extended its forecasts through to the end of 2016. Meanwhile, BMI has revised its mobile subscriber forecast, which now reflects a smaller market at the end of 2011.

Since BMI's last update, the country's second-largest mobile operator, MTN Irancell, has published new operational data for the Q211 and Q311. MTN reported over 33.4mn mobile subscribers at the end of September 2011.

BMI's new mobile subscriber forecast for Iran expects the mobile sector expanding by over 8% in 2012, with the mobile customer base forecast to grow to 80.85mn by the end of the year. Iran's mobile market is expected to cross the 100% penetration threshold in early 2012.

In addition to updating its mobile subscriber forecast, BMI has made some revisions to its forecast for mobile ARPU levels in Iran. Like BMI's other forecasts, this has been extended to the end of 2016. Expressed in the local currency, MTN had an average blended ARPU of IRR80,471 (US$8) for 2010.

This was up by 5.3% compared to the previous year. The growth of MTN's ARPU, in local currency terms, occurred in spite of the promotions which the operator introduced in a bid to capture market share from mobile market leader MCI. This suggests ARPU growth was driven by other factors, including an increase in the general level of service usage and a trend towards the use of more lucrative data services.

BMI maintains its view that, over the next five years, ARPU levels in Iran's mobile sector will come under increasing downward pressure. This trend will mainly reflect the intensification of competition in the market.

Apart from extending BMI's forecast for Iran's fixed-line telephony and internet sectors through to the end of 2016, BMI's forecasts for these markets remain unchanged.

Key Topics Covered:

• SWOT Analysis
• Business Environment Ratings
• Industry Forecast Scenario
• Competitive Landscape
• Company Monitor

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/0ca0e9/iran_telecommunica

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