Little growth in Belgian MVNO market, dominated by Telenet, JIM Mobile and Lycamobile

Houten, The Netherlands, 09 December 2014 – Mobile virtual operators accounted for 25 percent of the Belgian mobile market in Q3 2014, or 3.25 million subscribers in total. In the past year, the market has barely grown, with the customer base up just 0.08 percent. Market leaders Telenet and Lycamobile saw the strongest growth in the period, according to the fourth research report on the Belgian mobile virtual operators market by Telecompaper.

The number of active mobile virtual operators in Belgium stood at 37 at the end of September 2014, down slightly from 39 a year earlier *.  In the past year, five players exited the market, and three new providers joined the fray. Still, the top ten companies accounted for 94 percent of the VO customers, leaving the other 27 with a market share of just 6 percent.  Around a quarter of the VO players are co-marketing partnerships (or branded resellers), often working with media companies, and these providers also account for nearly a quarter of the customer base.

The three largest players are Telenet, JIM Mobile and Lycamobile. The latter conducted a successful marketing campaign that helped grow its base grow by 25 percent, and Telenet increased its customer base by 22 percent. JIM Mobile saw only modest growth in the past year, despite ranking in the top three providers for marketing exposure in the period. The cable operators Telenet and VOO Mobile also were among the most active in above-the-line advertising for their mobile offerings.

Thanks to Telenet’s continuing growth, the Non-niche segment remained the largest with a 35 percent share of the virtual market. Lycamobile’s growth led the Ethnic segment into second place, pushing Media into third. The majority of virtual players operate on the Base network, but thanks to Telenet and Lycamobile, Mobistar has a slightly larger share when based on customer numbers.

The Belgian mobile virtual market is expected to see more entries and exits in the near future, with notably US-based provider FreedomPop expected to launch in early 2015. New VOs will need to focus on innovative services or business models, such as Freedompop’s ‘freemium offer’, as the mobile market is a crowded one, according to Marion ter Welle, managing researcher and analyst at Telecompaper and co-author of the report. Potential areas for growth include data services and smartphones, which still have a relatively low penetration in Belgium. Expansion in this area is supported by increasing 4G coverage, which some of the virtual players are already using.