Greece - Mobile Infrastructure, Broadband, Operators - Statistics and Analyses

Greece - Mobile Infrastructure, Broadband, Operators - Statistics and Analyses

Greece's well-developed mobile market is dominated by the three mobile network operators Wind Hellas, Vodafone Greece and Cosmote. Operators continue to invest in LTE infrastructure and technologies, including carrier aggregation, to provide networks capable of meeting customer demand for data services. This in turn is helping the operators to offset declining revenue from voice and SMS services. Wind Hellas and Vodafone have a mobile network sharing deal and have partnered to develop a large-scale fibre-based fixed-line NGN.

The regulator has set in train the release of spectrum in the 3.4-3.8GHz band for 5G use, anticipating spectrum auctions to be held during 2019, with services being launched in urban areas by late 2019 and nationally by 2020. In October 2018 Wind Hellas announced plans to trial 5G during 2019, initially in Kalamata.

This report provides an overview of Greece's mobile market, covering regulatory and market developments as well as financial and operating statistics of the key players.

Key developments:

Regulator reports on 3.4GHz spectrum consultation;
Ericsson deploys NB-IoT for Cosmote in 11 cities;
Vodafone completes acquisition of Cyta Hellas;
Cosmote, Vodafone and Wind Hellas pay 201.45 million to extend 1800MHz licences to end-2035;
Cosmote trials carrier aggregation technology providing data at up to 1.2Gb/s, launches LTE-A Pro services;
Rules governing number portability tightened;
Ongoing economic difficulties impacting on mobile sector;
Amended laws reducing SIM card penetration;
2G spectrum refarmed for 3G and LTE use;
Report update includes the regulator's market review and annual report for 2017, telcos' operating and financial data to Q3 2018, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Vodafone Greece, Cosmote, Wind Hellas.