2015 has opened with Hot Mobile storming on all fronts and leading the market. For the second successive month, Hot Mobile has posted the highest number of subscribers switching to it.
Although its couples campaign ended in January (2 lines for NIS 40 per month plus ISP for a year), the company is still benefitting from the reverberations of the campaign, and it recruited 22 thousand net new subscribers, a very impressive number, considering that its sworn rival Golan Telecom is in second place for the second successive month with 10 thousand net subscribers.
In other words, Hot Mobile recruited twice as many subscribers as Golan Telecom, which also continues with bargain packages and has surpassed the 700 thousand subscribers mark. Hot Mobile explains the rise in the number of subscribers switching to it by expanded activity in the enterprise market, and the momentum generated by reaching one million subscribers.
For the veteran mobile carriers, the picture continues to look very gloomy, as they lose subscribers at a high rate. Even Pelephone Communications Ltd., which tried with all its might last year to preserve its market share, and even added Walla Mobile as a marketing arm, has lost subscribers, and it looks as though the public continues to vote with its feet in the direction of the new companies.
If a company loses 10,000 subscribers in a month averaging revenue of NIS 60 per month, this means a revenue loss of NIS 600,000. In fact, the companies are losing subscribers who generate much higher average monthly revenue, and are recruiting subscribers who generate much lower revenue, so that their total revenue is being eroded severely, and the veteran companies are liable to face serious challenges by the end of this year and next year.
Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR) has apparently decided to stop cutting prices, and it has paid dearly for it, with 15 thousand subscribers leaving in February, representing the highest loss by any company.
Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL) continues to lose subscribers, and it can already be said that its entry into television has not stemmed the losses in mobile subscribers. The company's next move will probably be a fixed-line triple package, and we may perhaps see mobile combined with this, but the combination of mobile and television simply isn't working.
As for the virtual operators, most of them continue to stagnate. In February too, YouPhone did not manage to take off; despite very low prices it is not managing to recruit enough new subscribers. The general picture arising from the figures indicates that the sixth operator about to enter the market, Hezi Bezalel with Xphone, should think twice about whether it's worthwhile doing so in current conditions.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 1, 2015
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2015